The determined efforts of lawyers and judges to prevent the deportation of eight migrants to South Sudan were ultimately thwarted by a Supreme Court ruling favoring the Trump administration’s third-country removal policy. The case has become a flashpoint in the debate over the ethics of deporting people to dangerous regions.
Initial court victories delayed the deportations, with judges expressing grave concerns about the migrants’ safety and the lack of any meaningful connection to South Sudan. These judicial interventions, however, could not withstand the administration’s persistence and the Supreme Court’s final say.
During the extended legal proceedings, the men endured weeks of uncertainty and confinement at a military facility in Djibouti. This holding period only compounded the stress and trauma they were already facing.
Now, with seven of the eight men having no ties to South Sudan, they are being held in custody and screened by local authorities. Critics warn that the Supreme Court’s decision could open the door to more removals to unstable and unsafe countries.