The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday gave the Trump administration the green light to deport a group of eight migrants stranded at an American military base in Djibouti to South Sudan—a nation still grappling with conflict and instability.
The ruling, issued by the conservative-majority court, comes just 10 days after it broadly endorsed the Trump administration’s ability to deport migrants to third countries, even those that are not the individuals’ countries of origin.
The eight men were originally being flown to South Sudan from the U.S. in May. However, their transfer was halted when a federal district court imposed a stay on third-country deportations, leaving them stranded in Djibouti.
The lower court had found that migrants were not being provided with a “meaningful opportunity” to challenge their removal orders.
On June 23, the Supreme Court lifted that stay, enabling deportations to resume. However, U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy—appointed by former President Joe Biden—argued that the eight migrants were still protected under a separate stay order he had issued, which he said had not been specifically addressed by the Supreme Court.
On Thursday, the Court ruled that its June 23 order applied to both of Murphy’s stay orders, effectively clearing the way for the deportation of the men.
Liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson strongly dissented from the decision.
“What the government wants to do, concretely, is send the eight noncitizens it illegally removed from the United States from Djibouti to South Sudan, where they will be turned over to the local authorities without regard for the likelihood that they will face torture or death,” wrote Sotomayor in her dissent.
“Today’s order clarifies only one thing: other litigants must follow the rules, but the administration has the Supreme Court on speed dial,” she added.
The eight migrants include individuals from Myanmar (2), Cuba (2), and one each from Vietnam, Laos, Mexico, and South Sudan. U.S. authorities say all eight have been convicted of violent crimes and are subject to removal.
The Trump administration has defended its policy of deporting individuals to third countries, particularly in cases where the migrants’ home countries refuse to accept them.
Former President Donald Trump, who returned to the White House in January, campaigned on promises to remove millions of undocumented immigrants from the U.S. and has taken aggressive steps since then to accelerate deportations.
