US Supreme Court approves deportation of migrants to South Sudan

The US Supreme Court has allowed the deportation of eight migrants to South Sudan from a US base in Djibouti. Photo / 123RF

The US Supreme Court has given the green light for the Trump administration to deport a group of migrants stranded at an American military base in Djibouti to war-torn South Sudan.

The decision by the conservative-dominated top court comes 10 days after it cleared the way for the administration to deport migrants to countries that are not their own.

The eight migrants were being flown to South Sudan from the US in May, but ended up in Djibouti when a district court imposed a stay on third-country deportations.

The court said migrants were not being given a “meaningful opportunity” to contest their removal.

On June 23, the Supreme Court lifted the stay imposed by District Judge Brian Murphy, clearing the way for third-country deportations.

But Murphy, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, said the case of the eight migrants was subject to a separate stay order he issued that had not been addressed by the Supreme Court.

However, the Supreme Court ruled today that its June 23 decision applied to both of the judge’s orders.

Liberal justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented from the decision.

“What the Government wants to do, concretely, is send the eight non-citizens 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,” Sotomayor said.

“Today’s order clarifies only one thing: other litigants must follow the rules, but the administration has the Supreme Court on speed dial.”

US authorities have said the eight men – two from Myanmar, two from Cuba, and one each from Vietnam, Laos, Mexico and South Sudan – are convicted violent criminals.

The Trump administration has defended third-country deportations as necessary because the home nations of some of those being targeted for removal sometimes refuse to accept them.

Donald Trump promised during his presidential campaign to expel millions of undocumented migrants from the US, and has taken several actions aimed at speeding up deportations since returning to the White House in January.

- Agence France-Presse