US Supreme Court lifts limits on third-country deportations

The US Supreme Court on Tuesday temporarily lifted restrictions on the Trump administration’s deportation of immigrants to countries other than their own, while agreeing to hear the case on its merits in December.

The conservative-majority court granted an emergency request from the administration to suspend a lower court ruling that had imposed limits on so-called third-country deportations.

The lower court had ruled that people facing removal must receive adequate notice of where they would be sent, giving them an opportunity to raise concerns about possible persecution.

The court’s three liberal justices, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, opposed the administration’s request.

The Trump administration has defended third-country deportations as necessary when migrants' countries of origin refuse to accept them. Solicitor General John Sauer described the policy as an "essential tool" for removing certain immigrants, including people convicted of serious crimes.

Opponents have argued that the lower-court ruling did not prohibit third-country deportations, but required the administration to provide migrants with adequate notice and an opportunity to raise claims of persecution or torture before removal.

An AFP investigation found that the United States has offered financial incentives and threatened visa restrictions to persuade third countries, particularly in Africa, to accept deportees.

Some deportees sent under such arrangements have reportedly faced detention, abuse or further deportation after arriving in countries where they had no previous ties.

Following Tuesday’s ruling, Democratic lawmakers called for stronger safeguards and due process in third-country deportations.