The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Trump administration to continue rapidly deporting migrants to countries other than their homelands while the justices consider whether the policy is legal.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Trump administration to continue rapidly deporting migrants to countries other than their homelands while the justices consider whether the policy is legal.
In an apparent 6-3 order, the court put on hold a lower-court ruling that required the government to give migrants an opportunity to object before they are sent to third countries where they have no ties. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in December.
The Trump administration said the lower-court order forced it to cancel a deportation flight last week carrying roughly 70 people bound for three countries.
The justices previously sided with the administration on the policy, allowing third-country deportation flights to continue temporarily last year. The court said it will review whether the policy is lawful, whether lower courts had authority to issue a broad injunction and other questions the administration asks it to consider.
According to The Associated Press, the administration has deported about 25,000 people to more than two dozen countries through a series of agreements that are often not public. While most have been sent to Mexico, deportations have also included countries such as Liberia and Guyana.
The administration says it uses third-country deportations for people with final removal orders who cannot be returned to their home countries or whose native governments will not accept them, including some with criminal convictions. Federal attorneys said receiving countries provide assurances that deportees will not face persecution or torture.
Attorneys for migrants argue some deportees have been jailed in countries they had never heard of before arriving, while others face serious safety concerns or are effectively forced to return to countries they fled. They said many affected migrants have no criminal convictions and had previously been found to face risks of torture or persecution.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
