Trump Admin Asks Supreme Court to Lift Restrictions on Deportations to Third Countries

A lower court judge blocked the administration’s ability to remove illegal immigrants to South Sudan and other third countries.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection security agents guide illegal immigrants onboard a C-17 Globemaster III for a removal flight at Fort Bliss, Texas, on Jan. 23, 2025. Dept. of Defense photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Nicholas J. De La Pena

The Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to block a lower court order restricting the ability of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to deport illegal immigrants to nations other than their home countries.

“On behalf of a nationwide class of aliens with final orders of removal, the district court issued an extraordinary preliminary injunction that restrains DHS from exercising its undisputed statutory authority to remove an alien to a country not specifically identified in his removal order (i.e., a ’third country'), unless DHS first satisfies an onerous set of procedures invented by the district court to assess any potential claim under the Convention Against Torture,” the Justice Department said in a filing on May 27.