Archive · 25 Sep 2026
Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court to Continue Quick Third-Country Deportations
The Trump administration wants to keep quickly sending some migrants to countries that are not their homelands.
It asked the Supreme Court of the United States to pause rules requiring migrants to object before being sent away.
Lower courts said migrants should have a meaningful chance to explain if they might face persecution or torture.
The administration says these rules make deportations too slow and difficult.
Officials say a flight carrying 70 people was canceled because of the added requirements.
The government says countries receiving migrants promise to keep them safe.
Lawyers say some deported people may still face serious dangers.
The administration says about 25,000 people have been sent to third countries, mostly Mexico.
The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to suspend lower-court requirements allowing migrants to object before third-country deportations.
The administration says the requirements create unworkable delays and contributed to canceling a flight carrying 70 people with criminal convictions.
Officials say about 25,000 people have been deported to third countries, mostly Mexico, with others sent to more than two dozen countries.
The government says destination countries provide assurances that deportees will not face persecution or torture.
Attorneys representing migrants cited allegations that two men deported to Equatorial Guinea were beaten and held at gunpoint.
- Who
- The Trump administration, represented by Solicitor General D. John Sauer, is asking the Supreme Court of the United States to intervene; migrants and their attorneys oppose the request.
- What
- The administration wants quick deportations to third countries to continue without the additional procedures required by lower courts.
- When
- The request was filed Thursday, after the Supreme Court allowed deportation flights to temporarily continue last year and an appeals court later upheld a lower-court ruling.
- Where
- The legal dispute is in the United States and concerns deportations to countries including Mexico and Equatorial Guinea.
- Why
- The administration says the lower-court requirements delay removals and disrupt agreements with foreign countries, while attorneys say migrants need a meaningful chance to raise fears of persecution or torture.
Administration’s Position
Migrants’ and Attorneys’ Concerns
Opportunity to object
Administration’s Position
The administration says requiring a meaningful opportunity to object whenever someone voices fear of persecution or torture causes excessive delays, including for claims it considers frivolous or belated.
Migrants’ and Attorneys’ Concerns
Lower courts and migrants’ attorneys say people must have a meaningful chance to explain whether deportation to a third country could expose them to persecution or torture.
Safety assurances
Administration’s Position
The administration says destination countries provide assurances that deported people will not be persecuted or tortured.
Migrants’ and Attorneys’ Concerns
Attorneys say some migrants face serious safety risks after arrival, citing allegations of beatings, detention and threats in Equatorial Guinea.
Operational impact
Administration’s Position
Government attorneys say the lower-court requirements create cascading delays, may require foreign agreements to be reworked and contributed to canceling a deportation flight.
Migrants’ and Attorneys’ Concerns
Attorneys argue that procedural protections are necessary because some people are sent to countries they had never heard of and may otherwise have few safe options.
- Requested action
- The administration asked the Supreme Court of the United States to halt lower-court orders requiring migrants to receive an opportunity to object before third-country deportation.
- Reported deportations
- Department of Homeland Security General Counsel James Percival said about 25,000 people had been deported to third countries.
- Main destination
- The vast majority of those deported were sent to Mexico.
- Other destinations
- The administration has reported sending people to countries including South Sudan, Equatorial Guinea, Panama, Liberia and Guyana.
- Canceled flight
- The administration said lower-court requirements contributed to canceling a flight carrying 70 people with criminal convictions to three countries.
- Safety allegations
- Lawyers for two men deported to Equatorial Guinea said police beat them and held them at gunpoint in a hotel-turned-detention center.
- Reported geographic scope
- One account described agreements with nearly two dozen countries, while another said deportations involved more than two dozen countries.
