Supreme Court Approves Trump’s Measure to Deport Illegal Immigrants to South Sudan

The Supreme Court has greenlit President Donald Trump’s push to deport eight illegal immigrants from a U.S. military base in Djibouti to war-torn South Sudan.

The 7-2 decision overturns lower court restrictions and marks a major victory for Trump’s third-country deportation policy.

The eight men—originally from Cuba, Vietnam, and Laos—had already been removed from the U.S. and were en route to South Sudan when a judge tried to block the move mid-flight. Trump’s team rerouted the plane to Djibouti, where the men have been detained at a military base.

On May 21, U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy ruled the deportations violated his prior injunction, which demanded the government ensure deportees wouldn’t face torture or death in “third countries” not named in their original removal orders.

But the Supreme Court disagreed, as the Conservative Brief reported.

In a short, unsigned opinion, the majority said their previous June 23 stay fully blocked Murphy’s injunction, including the May 21 order. “The May 21 remedial order cannot now be used to enforce an injunction that our stay rendered unenforceable,” the Court said.

Justice Elena Kagan, a liberal, sided with the Court’s conservatives. “A majority of this court saw things differently, and I do not see how a district court can compel compliance with an order that this court has stayed,” Kagan wrote.

Trump’s Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued Murphy’s ruling had caused chaos for federal deportation procedures. He said the judge’s “judicially created procedures” were “wreaking havoc on the third-country removal process” and interfering with “diplomatic, foreign policy, and national-security efforts.”

Murphy claimed his May 21 order wasn’t affected by the June 23 Supreme Court stay, prompting the Trump administration to demand clarity from the justices the very next day.

Liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor blasted the decision in her dissent, accusing the government of trying to dump illegal immigrants in a country rife with “crime, kidnapping, and armed conflict.” She wrote that the eight men would be handed “to the local authorities without regard for the likelihood that they will face torture or death.”

She also slammed the Court’s approach as “indefensible,” saying it failed to justify “extraordinary decisions” while blaming lower courts for misinterpreting them.

Trump officials say the ruling now clears the path to carry out third-country deportations more effectively and without activist judges interfering in foreign policy.

The case underscores a broader battle between Trump’s immigration crackdown and federal judges trying to curtail it. “This is about restoring law and order to a broken immigration system,” a senior administration official said after the ruling.

The State Department has warned U.S. citizens against travel to South Sudan, citing rampant violence and instability. But Trump’s team insists the removals are legal and necessary.

For now, the eight men remain detained in Djibouti, but deportation to South Sudan is back on track. The Biden-appointed lower court judge’s orders have been overruled. Trump’s policy moves forward.

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