The Supreme Court ruled Monday that the Trump administration can resume deporting migrants to third countries, removing a lower court's hold on a policy that critics say puts people at risk of torture or persecution.
The decision, issued without a written opinion, allows Immigration and Customs Enforcement to send migrants to nations they have no connection to, as long as those countries agree to accept them. The court's conservative majority sided with the administration; the three liberal justices dissented.
The case reached the high court after a federal judge in Massachusetts blocked the policy earlier this year, finding that the government had not given migrants adequate notice or a chance to argue that they would face harm. The Supreme Court's order lifts that block while litigation continues.
The administration has argued that third-country deportations are a necessary tool for removing people who cannot be sent back to their home nations because those governments refuse to take them. Officials say the policy targets migrants with final removal orders who have exhausted other options.
Immigration attorneys and human rights groups condemned the ruling. They warn that migrants could be flown to countries where they have no family, no legal status and no protection from violence.
"This decision hands the government a blank check to send people into danger," said one attorney involved in the case, speaking after the order was released.
The practice drew national attention this year when the administration sent a group of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador, where they were held in a maximum-security prison. That transfer, and others like it, raised questions about whether the government was complying with laws that bar sending people to countries where they face torture.
The Supreme Court's action does not settle the underlying legal dispute. The case now returns to the lower courts, where judges will weigh whether the policy violates due process and federal statutes governing removal.
For now, ICE can move forward with removals to third countries. The administration has not said how many people could be affected or which nations would receive them.
The ruling marks the latest win for Trump's immigration agenda at the Supreme Court, which has repeatedly allowed enforcement measures to take effect while challenges proceed. It also signals that the court's majority is willing to give the executive branch wide latitude on deportation policy.
Legal experts expect the case to return to the justices, possibly as soon as next term, once the lower courts issue final rulings.
