Supreme Court kick-starts Trump's mass deportation machine

Deportation flights are cleared for takeoff.

The Supreme Court of the United States on Tuesday issued an emergency ruling allowing the Trump administration to resume deporting migrants to “third countries,” or those other than their nation of origin. The administration has deported Cubans and Venezuelans to African nations like Liberia and Eswatini.

‘A bad day for criminal illegals and open borders activists alike.’

Though the one-page stay did not include a vote count, the three liberal Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Ketanji Brown Jackson noted they would not have granted the Trump administration’s request.

The Department of Homeland Security wasted no time taking a victory lap on social media.

“In our second Supreme Court victory in less than a week, DHS’s third country removal policy is back in effect,” DHS General Counsel James Percival said on X after the ruling. “A bad day for criminal illegals and open borders activists alike. It’s not too late to get $3,000 and a flight home.”

The practice became a practical necessity for removing illegal aliens after several countries, including Cuba and Vietnam, refused to accept the return of their deported nationals.

Though third-country deportations to African nations have generated prominent media attention, Mexico remains the leading destination for said removals. Of the roughly 25,000 third-country deportees since the policy took effect, 20,000 have been sent to Mexico.

Department of Justice Solicitor General D. John Sauer filed the successful application to stay Biden-appointed U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy’s February judgment.

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J. David Ake/Getty Images

“The United States relies on third countries in part to facilitate the removal of criminal aliens who are otherwise difficult to remove because their home countries and other countries refuse to take them,” Sauer wrote in the filing. “Absent an effective third-country removal policy, the United States is forced to retain (and often release into the interior) vicious criminals who have already harmed our communities.”

Tuesday’s emergency ruling is a temporary stay, not a final decision. The justices also granted the administration review and set oral argument for December.

SCOTUS will evaluate in December whether Murphy had jurisdiction to issue a nationwide pause and whether the third-country policy is lawful on its merits. The emergency ruling allowed the Trump administration to resume third-country deportations without the lengthy notice-and-hearing process previously imposed by Murphy.

“The Left wants you to believe that removing aliens to countries other than their home country is cruel,” Percival said. “What is cruel is allowing criminal illegals who can’t be sent home to stay in our communities and victimize anew.”

Tuesday’s order marks the third time that the Supreme Court has granted the federal government third-country deportation powers pending a final hearing and decision.

The DHS and DOJ did not respond to requests for comment.

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