The divided US Supreme Court has decided that the Trump administration is allowed to send eight migrants to South Sudan, rejecting a judge’s interpretation of a recent court decision.
The new order of the Supreme Court occurs even with men’s lawyers, currently detained at a US military base in Djibuti, stating that they are at risk of torture and death. South Sudan is on the list of “not traveling” from the State Department due to an armed conflict.
The order clarifies the reaching of the decision of June 23, when the Supreme Court allowed President Donald Trump to quickly resume the deportation of migrants to countries other than their home country. She drops special protections that federal judge Brian Murphy had created to prevent eight men from being sent to South Sudan.
Organize your financial life with AI
Judge Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson disagreed, criticizing the court for repeatedly allowing the Trump administration to circumvent the law and disrespect the federal judiciary.
“Other litigants must follow the rules, but the administration has the supreme cut on the fast dispenser,” Sotomayor wrote on behalf of the two.
The conflict arose from a preliminary injunction issued by Murphy on April 18, which prohibited the government from deporting migrants to so -called “third countries” without giving them a chance to contest the chosen place. Third countries are different places of the migrant’s home country or an alternative determined by an immigration judge.
Continues after advertising
A month later, Murphy concluded that the government violated its order by placing a group of men on a flight originally intended for South Sudan. The plane, however, landed in Djibuti, and Murphy then issued what he called the injunction, establishing procedures that the government should follow before trying to send men to a third country.
Supreme Court’s original decision suspended Murphy’s preliminary injunction, but did not mention its order of medicine. That same night, Murphy informed the parties that his specific decision to Djibuti “remains in full force.”
In the latest decision, most of the Supreme Court said Murphy’s order of medicine “cannot now be used to enforce an injunction that our suspension has become unenforceable.”
Continues after advertising
The third liberal judge of the court, Elena Kagan, said she continued to believe that the June 23 decision was wrong.
“But most of this court saw things differently, and I don’t see how a district court may force the compliance with an order that this Court suspended,” Kagan wrote.
Only one of the men of the case is from South Sudan. The others are from Mexico, Cuba, Myanmar and other countries.
Continues after advertising
© 2025 Bloomberg L.P.
