US Supreme Court allows Trump to fast-track deportations to third countries

US President Donald Trump can resume the rapid deportation of migrants to third countries for the time being.

In May, the US immigration authorities deported eight migrants convicted of serious crimes to South Sudan, a measure that was unlawful in the opinion of a US district judge. However, the US Supreme Court has now cancelled the order.

On Monday, the Supreme Court overturned a court order according to which those affected must have the opportunity to appeal their deportation. No reasons were given for the decision, which is usual for urgent applications. The three liberal judges rejected the decision.

Immigration authorities had flown eight people to South Sudan in May, a move that US District Judge Brian Murphy of Boston said violated his order to give the migrants a chance to appeal. The people from countries such as Myanmar, Vietnam and Cuba had been convicted of serious criminal offences in the US, and immigration authorities said they were unable to quickly send them back to their home countries.

However, Judge Murphy did not order the migrants to return to the US, but gave President Donald Trump's administration the opportunity to hear them in Djibouti, where the plane had flown to on its way to South Sudan. The government then complained in a motion that Murphy was asking it to detain “dangerous criminals in a sensitive location“.

The US government argues that the men's home countries do not want to take them back. It has also repeatedly pointed out the men's criminal past in the USA and presented them as a threat to national security.

Francis Tawiah (Duisburg, Germany)