US Supreme Court pauses safeguards on third-country deportations

The US Supreme Court has temporarily suspended safeguards governing the Trump administration’s deportation of migrants to countries other than their own, clearing the way for removals to resume as the court considers the practice’s legality.

The lower court had required migrants to be told in advance where they would be sent and given time to raise concerns about possible persecution. It restricted the process but did not prohibit all third-country deportations.

The administration says the removals are needed when migrants’ home countries refuse to accept them. Solicitor General John Sauer argued that rapid deportations to third countries were an essential tool for removing some migrants, including people he described as serious criminal offenders.

Opponents argued the lower-court ruling required the administration to carry out removals lawfully. US policy bars deporting people to places where their lives may be in danger or where they could face torture.

The court is due to hear the case on its merits in December. Three liberal justices said they would have rejected the administration’s request.