US supreme court clears way for deportations of eight men to South Sudan
Court halts ruling that allowed migrants to challenge removal to countries where they could be in danger
The supreme court has allowed the Trump administration to deport the eight men who have been held for weeks at an American military base in Djibouti to war-torn South Sudan, a country where almost none of them have ties.
Most of the men come from countries such as Vietnam, South Korea, Mexico, Laos, Cuba, and Myanmar. Only one is from South Sudan. Thursday's Supreme Court order came after the court's conservative majority ruled last month that immigration officials can quickly deport people to countries with which they have no connection. This order suspended a district judge's previous ruling that immigrants sent to third countries must first be given the opportunity to show they would face torture, persecution, or death if sent there. Trina Realmuto, an attorney for the eight men and executive director of the National Immigration Litigation Alliance, said the eight men could "face dangerous conditions and potentially immediate detention upon arrival."
Two liberal justices—Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson—dissented, arguing that the ruling grants the government special treatment. "What the government seeks, specifically, is to send the eight aliens it unlawfully removed from the United States from Djibouti to South Sudan, where they will be handed over to local authorities without regard for the likelihood that they face torture or death," Sotomayor wrote. "Today's order makes only one thing clear: other litigants must play by the rules, but the government has the Supreme Court at its disposal." The Trump administration has been seeking agreements with several countries to accept deportees whom the U.S. government cannot quickly repatriate to their home countries.
The eight men awaiting deportation to South Sudan have been convicted of serious crimes, which the Trump administration has emphasized to justify their deportation. Many had completed or were about to complete their sentences and had removal orders requiring them to leave the United States. Some, like Tuan Thanh Phan—who came to the United States from Vietnam as a child and was convicted of killing someone in a gang altercation at age 18—were already planning to return to their home country after serving their sentences. However, the U.S. government first told them they would be deported to South Africa and asked them to sign documents acknowledging their deportation. They refused, and their case was brought before Judge Brian E. Murphy of the District of Massachusetts, who ruled that the government must notify any immigrant facing deportation to a third country in writing and give them an opportunity to express a reasonable fear of torture.
Instead, the men were told they were being deported to South Sudan. The government did not provide Murphy with immediate information about their location or where they would be sent. Ultimately, their flight landed at Camp Lemonnier, a U.S. military base in Djibouti. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents worked 12-hour shifts to protect the men. In a court affidavit, an official described illness among detainees and government agents, inadequate medical care, the risk of malaria, and concerns about militant attacks in Yemen. In May, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to intervene and allow the government to deport the men to South Sudan.
They sought agreements with several countries to house migrants if authorities couldn't quickly return them to their countries of origin. The White House and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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