Supreme Court Clears Path for Third-Country Deportations During Appeal

WASHINGTON, United States — The US Supreme Court on Tuesday removed restrictions on deporting immigrants to third countries while agreeing to review the policy’s legality in December.

The conservative-dominated court granted an emergency request from the Trump administration to suspend a lower court ruling that had limited — but not outright banned — so-called “third-country removals.”

The lower court had required that individuals targeted for deportation receive effective notice of their destination, allowing them to raise concerns about potential persecution.

All three liberal justices on the nine-member panel dissented, saying they would not have granted the administration’s request.

President Donald Trump campaigned on pledges to expel millions of undocumented migrants and has pursued multiple measures to accelerate deportations since returning to office in 2025.

The administration has defended third-country deportations, arguing that some target nations refuse to accept their nationals. In a Supreme Court filing, Solicitor General John Sauer described rapid third-country removal as “an essential tool to remove certain aliens, including some of the worst criminal aliens,” adding that the lower court’s ruling “created substantial logistical problems.”

Opponents countered that the lower court order did not impose a full ban but rather required deportations to be carried out lawfully.

An AFP investigation revealed that the US has offered multimillion-dollar deals and threatened visa restrictions to persuade “third countries,” particularly in Africa, to accept deportees. Once transferred outside US jurisdiction, deportees have faced abuse by local guards, indefinite detention, or rapid re-deportation to their home nations.

US law already mandates that the country not deport individuals to places where their lives would be endangered or where they could face torture.

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