Supreme Court lifts limits on Trump deporting migrants to countries not their own

THE US Supreme Court cleared the way on Monday for President Donald J. Trump’s administration to resume deporting migrants to countries other than their own without offering them a chance to show the harms they could face, handing him another victory in his aggressive pursuit of mass deportations.

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In an action that prompted a sharp dissent from its three liberal justices, the court granted the administration’s request to lift a judicial order requiring that migrants set for deportation to so-called “third countries” get a “meaningful opportunity” to tell US officials they are at risk of torture at their new destination, while a legal challenge plays out.

Boston-based US District Judge Brian Murphy issued the order on April 18.

The Supreme Court's brief order was unsigned and offered no reasoning, as is common when it decides emergency requests. The court has a 6-3 conservative majority.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by the two other liberal justices, called the decision a “gross abuse” of the court’s power.

“Apparently, the court finds the idea that thousands will suffer violence in far-flung locales more palatable than the remote possibility that a district court exceeded its remedial powers when it ordered the government to provide notice and process to which the plaintiffs are constitutionally and statutorily entitled,” Ms. Sotomayor wrote.

Ms. Sotomayor called the court’s action “as incomprehensible as it is inexcusable.”

Mr. Murphy had found that the administration’s policy of “executing third-country removals without providing notice and a meaningful opportunity to present fear-based claims” likely violates the US Constitution's due process protections. Due process generally requires the government to provide notice and an opportunity for a hearing before taking certain adverse actions.