Supreme Court Allows Deportations to Third Countries to Continue

Why it matters locally: Minnesota, with its significant immigrant and refugee populations, could see indirect impacts from this policy as it influences national immigration trends and the availability of resettlement options in the U.S.

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court has allowed the Trump administration to continue deporting individuals to third countries while justices consider the legality of the policy. The court’s order permits the government to maintain its current practice of transferring migrants to nations other than their home countries or the United States. Administration officials have deported approximately 25,000 individuals under this policy. These transfers have occurred to more than two dozen countries, including Liberia and Guyana. Many of these agreements between the U.S. and the receiving nations have remained undisclosed. Several legal challenges to these policies have emerged. Lower courts had previously issued injunctions blocking aspects of the policy. However, the Supreme Court's latest decision temporarily lifts those injunctions, enabling the deportations to proceed. The justices have indicated they will hear arguments on the merits of the policy in the future. The court did not provide a timeline for these future arguments.