The Supreme Court ruled on the 23rd that the Trump administration has the right to quickly deport undocumented immigrants to a third country without going through the due process required by the federal district court judge. ABC reported that the Supreme Court’s ruling is a major victory for President Trump’s immigration policy.
The Supreme Court’s brief, unsigned ruling did not include an opinion, but only stated that if the executive branch fails to appeal in the future, the temporary injunction issued by Boston federal court judge Brian Murphy will also be terminated. The lawsuit over the deportation of undocumented immigrants to a third country is still ongoing and is expected to drag on for several years.
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, wrote on social media X that “the Supreme Court’s ruling is a major victory for the safety and protection of the American people.”
A group of undocumented immigrants who were scheduled to be deported to South Sudan filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, alleging that they were not given the opportunity to appeal during the deportation process and expressed concerns about possible torture. Murphy issued a temporary injunction in May to block the Trump administration’s deportation to a third country unless the detained undocumented immigrants were notified of the deportation location in advance and given at least 10 days to appeal for personal safety considerations, and 15 days to object to the immigration officer’s order.
The Supreme Court’s ruling on the 23rd allowed the Trump administration to resume actions to quickly deport undocumented immigrants to other countries that are not their home countries. The Trump administration sent deportation planes to transport undocumented immigrants to destinations including El Salvador, Guatemala, South Sudan and Libya.
Liberal justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented. In her dissenting opinion, Sonia Sotomayor said that the conservative justices condoned the executive branch’s “lawless” behavior in “matters of life and death.”
Sonia Sotomayor pointed out that the due process clause of the Constitution means that the U.S. government is based on the rule of law, not the rule of man, and that only when the ruler abides by the rules and regulations will the people obey the rule. She pointed out that the Supreme Court’s ruling is tantamount to rewarding lawlessness and disorder, once again undermining the basic spirit of the law.
