The U.S. Supreme Court has granted the Trump administration’s request to pause a lower court injunction that had blocked the deportation of migrants to third countries without prior notice, marking a significant short-term victory for the administration’s immigration agenda. In a 6–3 decision, with Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson dissenting, the Court allowed removals to resume while legal challenges continue. The case centers on migrants contesting deportations to nations other than their home countries—including South Sudan, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Guatemala—after U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy ruled that migrants must remain in U.S. custody until they receive a “reasonable fear interview.”
Murphy emphasized that his order did not prohibit third-country removals but required the government to follow due process. His ruling came amid concerns that migrants were being deported without notice or the chance to challenge their removal. Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued the injunction had prevented the removal of “the worst of the worst illegal aliens,” while lawyers for the migrants said deporting individuals—some held at a U.S. military base in Djibouti—without proper review risked returning them to persecution or torture.
The Supreme Court’s decision drew sharply divided reactions. Homeland Security officials celebrated the ruling as a step toward restoring national security and accelerating deportations, while immigrant-rights advocates condemned it as a devastating setback. Trina Realmuto of the National Immigration Litigation Alliance warned that the order strips migrants of vital protections and could expose them to danger, urging the courts to move quickly to restore due process safeguards.