Supreme Court Urged to Allow Deportations to Third Countries Without Hearings

The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to lift lower court orders that require immigrants to have a chance to object before being deported to third countries. The administration argues the requirement has already caused a flight carrying 70 people to be canceled. Lower courts ruled that migrants must be able to argue they face persecution or torture in the destination country.

The administration's emergency request follows an appeals court decision that upheld a Boston judge's ruling requiring migrants to receive a meaningful opportunity to argue that deportation to a third country would expose them to persecution or torture. Solicitor General D. John Sauer contends the requirement has already forced cancellation of a flight carrying 70 convicted individuals destined for three different nations. The government maintains that roughly 25,000 people have been sent to third countries, with most going to Mexico.

The administration has relied on often-secret agreements to deport thousands to more than two dozen nations, including Liberia and Guyana. Some deportees have arrived in countries they had never heard of, while others face serious safety risks. Lawyers for two men sent to Equatorial Guinea recently reported they were beaten and held at gunpoint by police in a hotel-turned-detention center, with bags placed over their heads.