US Supreme Court allows Trump to continue third-country deportations

September 30, 2026 at 03:06 AM2 min

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The US Supreme Court granted the Trump administration's emergency request to resume third-country deportations, halting a lower-court ruling that paused such removals over due process concerns. The unsigned order, issued Tuesday, allows deportations to countries immigrants may have no connection to. Arguments in the case are slated for December.

Key Facts

The Supreme Court's unsigned order grants the administration's emergency petition to resume third-country deportations.
Justices Sotomayor, Jackson, and Kagan indicated they would have denied the petition.
Arguments in the case are scheduled for December.
Judge Brian Murphy in Boston had ruled that immigrants must be given a meaningful chance to raise safety concerns before removal.
In June 2025, the Supreme Court issued a similar unsigned order allowing removals, leading to the deportation of eight men to South Sudan.

The Court's Order

The Supreme Court granted the administration's emergency request to resume third-country deportations on Tuesday. The order was unsigned, as is typical for emergency petitions, and included no explanation or vote breakdown. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Ketanji Brown Jackson, and Elena Kagan indicated they would have denied the petition. The decision pauses a lower-court ruling by Judge Brian Murphy in Boston that had halted such removals over due process concerns. The order calls for arguments to be heard in December.

Background and Precedent

Judge Murphy had ruled that immigrants must be given a meaningful chance to raise safety concerns before removal to third-party countries. In June 2025, the Supreme Court issued an unsigned order allowing third-country removals to proceed. That order cleared the way for eight men, including nationals of Cuba, Myanmar, and Vietnam, to be deported to South Sudan. The US State Department advises against travel to South Sudan due to crime, kidnapping, and armed conflict. The Department of Homeland Security called the June 2025 removals a win, while rights groups said the move flouted basic legal protections.