The U.S. Supreme Court has reversed a lower court's ruling to give President Donald Trump's administration the ability to deport criminal illegal aliens to a third country, the BBC reported. The 6-3 decision on Monday fell along ideological lines among the justices.
The administration was sued after deporting certain illegal immigrants to places other than their countries of origin. The lower court demanded that the government provide a "meaningful opportunity" for illegal immigrants to have input in the matter.
The case involved eight migrants whom the administration called "the worst of the worst" offenders. These criminals from Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Myanmar, South Sudan, and Vietnam, deported last month, are now en route to South Sudan.
BREAKING 🚨 The Supreme Court hands Trump a MASSIVE Victory. Trump can resume deportations to third World countries like Sudan without notice
6-3 with Sotomayor, Kagan & Jackson dissenting
THIS IS HUGE 🔥 pic.twitter.com/oq3ZbeUkbm
— MAGA Voice (@MAGAVoice) June 23, 2025
Predictably, it was Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson, Elena Kagan, and Sonia Sotomayor who dissented from the majority. They called the practice "rewarding lawlessness," even as they sided with the criminal illegal immigrants.
In the initial decision handed down by U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy, he claimed these migrants who felt they would be killed or tortured would have the right to plead their case. Murphy, a Biden appointee, believed they had that right to voice concerns even if they had already exhausted their other legal appeals.
The dissenting justices called the deportations to a third country a "gross abuse" by the administration. Sotomayor wrote the dissenting opinion and railed against the measure.
"Apparently, the court finds the idea that thousands will suffer violence in far-flung locales more palatable than the remote possibility that a district court exceeded its remedial powers when it ordered the government to provide notice and process to which the plaintiffs are constitutionally and statutorily entitled. That use of discretion is as incomprehensible as it is inexcusable," Sotomayor wrote.
While awaiting the decision, the migrants were kept at a U.S. military base in Djibouti. Now these deportees, who are considered serious criminals so bad their countries of origin won't take them, are headed for a place where their return won't be refused.
Despite the handwringing, it's clear that this is a positive move for Trump's mission of making America safe from illegal immigration. Sending migrants to a third country has many benefits, not the least of which is deterrence against future lawbreaking.
Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin touted the decision in a statement Monday. "The Supreme Court ruling is a victory for the safety and security of the American people," McLaughlin said.
"The Biden Administration allowed millions of illegal aliens to flood our country, and now, the Trump Administration can exercise its undisputed authority to remove these criminal illegal aliens and clean up this national security nightmare," she noted. McLaughlin also chastised the justices for their lack of concern for America's safety.
"If these activist judges had their way, aliens who are so uniquely barbaric that their own countries won’t take them back, including convicted murderers, child rapists and drug traffickers, would walk free on American streets. DHS can now execute its lawful authority and remove illegal aliens to a country willing to accept them. Fire up the deportation planes," McLaughlin said.
Figuring out how to deport and keep out illegal immigrants is imperative to America's security. This decision by the high court is the right one with those goals in mind.
