Supreme Court Allows DHS to Continue Third-Country Deportations Amid Legal Challenge
The Supreme Court stayed a lower-court order, permitting DHS to keep its third-country removal policy in effect while the case proceeds.
On Tuesday the Supreme Court issued a stay of a lower-court injunction, allowing the Department of Homeland Security to maintain its third-country removal program while the merits of the case are reviewed. The policy, revived under the Trump administration, transfers removable aliens to foreign states that agree to accept them, a mechanism originally embedded in the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act.
DHS General Counsel James Percival argued that the statute expressly authorizes such removals and that the government has been reluctant to use the tool for fear of losing it. Critics point to diplomatic difficulties, citing examples like Norway refusing to take a Cuban rapist, and human-rights allegations that deportees have been mistreated in Equatorial Guinea, a country receiving U.S. deportees under a $7.5 million deal.
The Court will hear arguments in December on whether DHS’s procedures satisfy federal immigration law, due-process guarantees and safeguards against torture. Percival has been publicizing cases through a “Daily Deportee” series on X, highlighting dilemmas such as child rapists versus community safety. The outcome could shape how the government handles non-citizens who cannot be returned to their home countries.
Why it matters
The ruling determines how the U.S. can deport non-citizens when their home countries refuse to accept them, affecting immigration enforcement and human-rights oversight.
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