The Supreme Court says that, for now, people can continue to be deported to countries they may never have set foot in before.
Today (9/29/2026), the Supreme Court cleared the way for the Trump administration to rapidly deport immigrants to countries they may have no connection to, also known as third-country deportations.
A federal appeals court had ruled that people facing third-country deportation must be told where they are being sent and given a meaningful opportunity to object if they fear persecution or torture there.
The Trump administration says that requirement interferes with deportations and that sending people to third countries is an essential enforcement tool.
The administration uses these “third-country deportations” when it cannot deport someone directly to their home country. That includes some people who have been granted protection from being returned home because they could face persecution or torture there.
Some of the people being deported have no family or community in their destination countries, do not speak the language, and have little idea what will happen when they arrive.
The United States, for example, has sent people from countries including Eritrea, Ethiopia, Cuba, Brazil, Egypt and the Democratic Republic of Congo to Equatorial Guinea. Some were confined in a hotel guarded by armed police. The New York Times reports that two deportees were hooded, bound and beaten by police.
The Supreme Court’s order puts the appeals court’s requirement on hold. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson said they would have denied the administration’s request.
The Court will hear the case in December.
For now, people can continue to be deported to countries they may never have set foot in before.
Sources
- U.S. Supreme Court docket, DHS v. D.V.D.
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit opinion, D.V.D. v. DHS
- Reuters: Supreme Court lets Trump resume deporting migrants to countries not their own
- Associated Press: Supreme Court lets quick deportations to third countries resume
- Amnesty International: Equatorial Guinea, risk of torture for Ahmed Soliman and Samson Birhane
- Third Country Deportation Watch: Equatorial Guinea
- The Guardian: Men deported from U.S. bound and beaten in Equatorial Guinea detention hotel
