The Supreme Court in a 7-2 decision on Thursday ruled that the Trump administration is not obligated to keep eight noncitizens in temporary confinement at a U.S. military facility in Djibouti while a legal battle over their status plays out, clearing the way for their removal to South Sudan — a country with which the men have no ties.
The immigrants in question, who were convicted of violent crimes, were given notices of removal from the U.S. to the East African country of South Sudan — but after U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy blocked the administration’s attempt to deport the group without giving them a sufficient chance to contest their removal, the group has been in legal limbo.
In an unexplained decision last week, the Supreme Court lifted Judge Murphy’s injunction, allowing the deportation of migrants to third countries without additional due process requirements that Murphy had imposed .
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Subsequently, Judge Murphy said he believed specifically that the eight men in Djibouti — who sued to challenge their removal — remained protected from being sent to South Sudan under an earlier order he had issued.
The Trump administration attacked Murphy as exhibiting “defiance” of the Supreme Court and asked for clarification. The Thursday ruling from the high court granted the administration’s wish.
The decision is another win for the Trump administration and its unprecedented effort to deport immigrants to countries with which they have no ties and where they may face mistreatment.
In an unsigned opinion, the court explained that since it lifted judge-imposed due process requirements for third-country removals last month, the government can no longer be held to account for allegedly violating the requirements.
“I do not see how a district court can compel compliance with an order that this Court has stayed,” wrote liberal Justice Elena Kagan in a short concurrence with the conservative justices.
Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan dissented.
“Today’s order clarifies only one thing: Other litigants must follow the rules, but the administration has the Supreme Court on speed dial,” Sotomayor wrote.
