Supreme Court Lets Trump Banish Immigrants to South Sudan
The Supreme Court on Thursday granted a request by the Trump administration to send eight men who have spent more than a month imprisoned on a U.S. military base in Djibouti to war-ravaged South Sudan.
Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented.
By a 7-2 vote, the justices lifted an order from U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy that had blocked the men’s expulsion to South Sudan. Murphy intervened despite a Supreme Court ruling last month that put a hold on a prior nationwide injunction he issued requiring the administration to give deportees advance notice of their destination and a “meaningful” chance to object if they believed they’d be in danger of harm.
The Trump administration accused Murphy of defying the Supreme Court, and the Justice Department asked the justices for a “clarification” that would allow the administration to expel the men.
“It will only embolden the government to further violate court orders that go against the government.”
“The United States may not deport noncitizens to a country where they are likely to be tortured or killed. International and domestic law guarantee that basic human right,” wrote Sotomayor in a bitter dissent. “In this case, the Government seeks to nullify it by deporting noncitizens to potentially dangerous countries without notice or the opportunity to assert a fear of torture.”
Neither the United States nor South........
© The Intercept
