Trump Admin Asks Supreme Court to Lift Restrictions on Deportations to Third Countries

A lower court judge blocked the administration’s ability to remove illegal immigrants to South Sudan and other third countries.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection security agents guide illegal immigrants onboard a C-17 Globemaster III for a removal flight at Fort Bliss, Texas, on Jan. 23, 2025. Dept. of Defense photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Nicholas J. De La Pena

The Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to block a lower court order restricting the ability of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to deport illegal immigrants to nations other than their home countries.

“On behalf of a nationwide class of aliens with final orders of removal, the district court issued an extraordinary preliminary injunction that restrains DHS from exercising its undisputed statutory authority to remove an alien to a country not specifically identified in his removal order (i.e., a ’third country'), unless DHS first satisfies an onerous set of procedures invented by the district court to assess any potential claim under the Convention Against Torture,” the Justice Department said in a filing on May 27.

It also stated that “those judicially created procedures are currently wreaking havoc on the third country removal process,” noting that aliens lack the prior ties in these countries that would expose them to likely persecution or torture by country officials.

The administration said it had been removing people to South Sudan but was blocked by U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy in Massachusetts.

According to the department’s filing, the administration “was in the process of removing a group of criminal aliens who had been in the country for years or decades after receiving final orders of removal, despite having committed horrific crimes.”

That included, the filing says, people convicted of murder, sexually abusing a child, and sexually abusing a mentally handicapped woman.

“All these aliens have already received extensive legal process,“ it stated. ”All were tried and convicted in a criminal court, with all the process and protections afforded to criminal defendants. All were adjudicated removable.”

Murphy has issued multiple orders over the past few months blocking potential deportations. In April, he said that individuals should be given a chance to raise any concerns if they had reason to believed that their deportation to a new country would “likely result in their persecution, torture, and/or death.”

“This small modicum of process is mandated by the Constitution of the United States,” he added.

The DOJ argues that the rules outlining proper process for removing aliens to third countries was delegated by Congress to the president and it’s not for the judicial branch to devise “a new set of procedures.”

The injunction, however, substantially changes the third-country removal policy.

For example, the district court is ordering DHS to “provide written notice” of plans for third country removal, “provide aliens with a ‘meaningful opportunity’ to raise a fear of removal,” and “use a ‘reasonable fear’ rather than a ‘more likely than not’ standard to assess the credibility of any claims.”

The appeal stated that the court also issued timelines to DHS, saying that aliens must get at least 10 days to raise reasonable fear claims and another 15 days to challenge a removal order if those claims fail.

“That injunction exceeds the district court’s lawful authority in numerous respects,” the DOJ stated.

Attorney General Pam Bondi commented on the issue in a post on social media on May 27.

“The invasion of illegal aliens must end, and the conduct of our nation’s foreign policy cannot be directed by a single federal court judge,” she said.

“[The Department of Justice] has asked the Supreme Court to intervene to stop this insanity so that President Trump can continue to deport the worst of the worst illegal aliens.”