The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday granted a request from the Trump administration to temporarily resume deporting non-citizens to countries other than their own while the policy is reviewed. The order puts on hold a lower-court ruling that found the practice unlawful.
The justices agreed to hear arguments in the case in December, with a formal ruling on the policy’s legality to follow. In a brief, unsigned order, the court lifted an injunction from a Boston-based U.S. district judge. The court’s three liberal justices dissented from the decision but did not provide a written explanation.
The policy, implemented by the Department of Homeland Security, allows for the removal of migrants to so-called third countries without offering them an opportunity to formally present a case that they would face harm in those nations.
Attorneys for the Department of Justice argued in their emergency application to the court that the lower court’s decision had forced the cancellation of a deportation flight scheduled to carry approximately 70 people to three countries.
The case originated from a ruling by U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy, who determined that the administration’s policy was unlawful. The administration is appealing that decision to the Supreme Court. This is the second time the high court has intervened in the case, having previously allowed the deportations to continue temporarily last year while the legal challenge was in its early stages.
According to data compiled by human rights organizations, over 25,000 people have been deported to 29 different countries under the policy since it was implemented. The majority of these deportations have been to Mexico. Other countries that have received individuals under this policy include South Sudan, Uganda, Equatorial Guinea, and Liberia. The U.S. State Department has active travel advisories for some of these nations, citing risks of crime and armed conflict.
The Supreme Court will now schedule the case for oral arguments to determine the ultimate legality of the third-country deportation policy. Until the court issues its final decision, federal agencies are permitted to continue the practice.
