US Supreme Court lifts restrictions on third-country deportations

The US Supreme Court on Tuesday lifted restrictions on the deportations of immigrants to countries that are not their own, while agreeing to hear the issue on its merits in December.

The conservative-dominated high court granted an emergency request by the Trump administration to suspend a lower court ruling that restricted, but did not outright ban, so-called "third-country removals."

The lower court had said that people targeted with deportation must be given effective notice ahead of time about where they are being sent to allow them to raise concerns about potential persecution.

The three liberal justices on the nine-member panel said they would not have granted the Trump administration's request.

US President Donald Trump campaigned on promises to expel millions of undocumented migrants from the United States and has taken a number of actions aimed at speeding up deportations since returning to the White House in 2025.

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The Trump administration has defended third-country deportations as necessary since the home nations of some of those who are targeted for removal sometimes refuse to accept them.

In a brief to the Supreme Court, opponents of lifting the restrictions argued that the lower court ruling did not fully block all third-country deportations, "it simply requires them to do so lawfully."

Trump's solicitor general, John Sauer, meanwhile told the court that the rapid deportation to third countries was "an essential tool to remove certain aliens, including some of the worst criminal aliens."

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The lower court ruling "created substantial logistical problems" with removals, he said.

An AFP investigation found that the US has offered multimillion-dollar deals and threatened visa restrictions in a bid to get "third countries," especially in Africa, to take such deportees.

Once in these countries – and outside US jurisdiction – deportees have been subject to abuse by local guards, indefinite detention, or quickly re-deported to their home countries.

Congress has made it US policy not to deport people to countries where their lives would be in danger or they could be subject to torture.