US deports 8 migrants to South Sudan: Legal challenges overruled by supreme court; critics call move unconstitutional
The Trump administration has deported eight migrants to South Sudan, a US department of homeland security official confirmed, after plans to initially send them to a base in Djibouti were called off.
"A district judge cannot dictate the national security and foreign policy of the United States of America," assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin told ABC News. "This Independence Day marks another victory for the safety and security of the American people."
The aircraft arrived in South Sudan shortly before midnight on Friday.
The eight migrants, whom the department of homeland security alleges have serious criminal convictions, were previously involved in a lawsuit that temporarily halted their deportation to South Sudan, redirecting them instead to a US military base in Djibouti.
According to court filings, conditions at the US military base in Djibouti were difficult for both the detainees and the ICE officials assigned to guard them.
The case reached the US supreme court, which ruled in a 7-2 decision on Thursday that the Trump administration was not obligated to comply with a lower court order requiring the migrants to remain at the military facility while legal proceedings continued.
The ruling marked another legal victory for the Trump administration in its ongoing effort to deport individuals to countries with which they have no direct ties, and where they could potentially face mistreatment.
In an unsigned opinion, the US supreme court stated that, following its recent decision to remove judge-imposed due process requirements for third-country deportations, the government can no longer be held accountable for allegedly violating those protections.
One of the attorneys representing the group of men described their deportation to South Sudan as 'punitive and unconstitutional.'
'Because of the supreme court's procedural ruling, these men were denied an opportunity to contest their deportations to South Sudan based on their fear of torture or death,' said Trina Realmuto in a statement to ABC News. 'The US state department warns Americans against all travel to South Sudan, yet deported these men there without any due process. Make no mistake about it, these deportations were punitive and unconstitutional.
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