The Supreme Court let the Trump administration resume deporting migrants to third countries. Full arguments are set for December.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Trump administration to resume deporting migrants to countries other than their own, lifting a lower court order that had required officials to give migrants a chance to challenge such removals. The court’s brief, unsigned order did not explain its reasoning and said the justices would hear full oral arguments in the case in December.
The order stays a ruling by U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy in Boston, who found the administration’s “third country” deportation policy unlawful, and a federal appeals court ruling that upheld most of Murphy’s decision on Sept. 18. That appellate ruling took effect Sept. 23, prompting the administration to seek emergency relief from the Supreme Court. U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer told the justices that pausing the policy had created significant logistical problems for deportation operations, along with added costs, diplomatic complications and difficulty removing people the administration considers dangerous. Attorneys for the migrants had argued that denying the administration’s request would not itself prevent third-country removals, only require additional safeguards.
Under the policy, the administration has argued that a diplomatic assurance from a receiving country that it will not torture or persecute a deportee is sufficient grounds for removal, without requiring an individualized hearing for the migrant involved. More than 25,000 migrants have been deported to 29 countries under the policy, according to a tally by human rights groups, with the majority sent to Mexico. The approach drew scrutiny after immigrant rights groups reported that one group of migrants originally intended for South Sudan was instead held in Djibouti, in a converted shipping container. The Supreme Court said it would consider three questions when it takes up the case in December: whether the district court had jurisdiction to hear it, whether it had authority to rule for the entire class of affected migrants, and whether the underlying policy is lawful.
Tuesday’s order marks at least the second time the Supreme Court has intervened to allow the administration’s third-country deportations to continue, following a similar emergency order in June 2025. National Immigration Litigation Alliance executive director Trina Realmuto criticized the decision, saying it put people at renewed risk. The case is among several immigration-related disputes that have reached the high court since the start of Trump’s second term.
Sources: This report is based on information from the Associated Press (via PBS NewsHour and U.S. News), NPR, CNN, NBC News and The Washington Post.