The United States Supreme Court has allowed President Donald Trump’s administration to temporarily resume deporting immigrants to third countries, overturning a lower court order that had paused the practice over concerns about due process.
The Supreme Court granted the administration’s emergency request on Tuesday, September 29, 2026. The decision allows the deportations to continue while the justices prepare to hear arguments in the case in December.
The court’s unsigned order did not explain the decision or disclose how each justice voted. However, Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Ketanji Brown Jackson and Elena Kagan indicated that they would have rejected the administration’s request.
The case stems from a ruling by US District Judge Brian Murphy in Boston, Massachusetts. Murphy had ordered the administration to give immigrants a meaningful opportunity to raise safety concerns before they were deported to countries with which they had no connection.
The judge expressed concerns that some immigrants could be removed without having an adequate opportunity to challenge their deportations, potentially violating their due process rights.
Third-country deportations have expanded significantly under Trump’s administration. The policy allows the United States to send immigrants to countries other than their countries of citizenship, particularly when their home countries are unwilling to accept them.
In June 2025, the Supreme Court similarly allowed the administration to proceed with third-country deportations. That decision cleared the way for eight men from countries including Cuba, Myanmar and Vietnam to be sent to South Sudan.
The US Department of Homeland Security described those deportations as a success, while human rights organisations criticised the policy and raised concerns about legal protections and conditions in receiving countries.
Human rights advocates have also warned that some countries accepting deportees have records of alleged human rights abuses. They argue that third-country deportations can undermine court protections designed to prevent people from being returned to countries where they could face persecution, torture or other serious harm.
According to Refugees International and Human Rights First, at least 35 countries have entered agreements with the Trump administration to accept third-country deportees, with more than 25,000 people estimated to have been affected by the policy.
UN human rights experts on Monday urged the US government to halt the removals, warning that vulnerable groups—including children, women, people with disabilities, trafficking victims, LGBT people, human rights defenders and stateless persons—could face heightened risks of abuse.
Burundi also became the latest country to reach an agreement with the United States to accept non-citizen deportees. Burundian officials said the country would only accept people who were not facing prosecution and had no links to terrorism.
The Supreme Court’s latest order is temporary, with the broader legal dispute expected to be considered by the justices in December.
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