Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court to Revive Third-Country Deportations

The Trump administration has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to allow the government to resume deporting migrants to countries other than their countries of origin without first giving them an opportunity to raise concerns that they could face persecution or torture there.

The emergency request, filed Thursday, September 24, 2026, challenges a recent ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit that requires immigration officials to provide certain procedural protections before carrying out third-country removals.

The Brief

The administration is seeking emergency relief from the Supreme Court after the Boston-based First Circuit upheld a lower-court judgment concerning the government's third-country removal policy.

The policy involves migrants with final removal orders who may be sent to countries that were not identified as their destination during earlier immigration proceedings. The First Circuit's ruling requires the government to provide effective notice of the proposed third-country removal and a meaningful opportunity to contest it based on a reasonable fear of persecution or torture.

The Justice Department has argued that the restrictions interfere with the government's ability to remove people when their countries of origin will not accept them or when other immigration arrangements are necessary. The administration has characterized third-country removals as an important tool for carrying out immigration enforcement and foreign policy objectives.

What We Know

The legal dispute centers on what process the government must provide before sending a person to a country where the individual has no established connection.

The First Circuit's September 18 decision largely upheld a February ruling by U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy. The appeals court said affected migrants must receive a meaningful opportunity to challenge removal to a third country when they have a reasonable fear of persecution or torture there.

The policy has been used to send migrants to countries other than their own. CBS News reported in August that the administration had sent more than 100 deportees from Afghanistan, Cuba, Nicaragua and other countries to eight African nations over a 10-day period, including Liberia, Equatorial Guinea, Burundi and Rwanda.

The legal challenge was brought by migrants and immigrant-rights organizations. Their position is that people facing removal to unfamiliar countries should have an opportunity to explain why they believe the destination would expose them to serious danger. The First Circuit's ruling specifically addressed notice and the opportunity to raise reasonable fears of persecution or torture.

The case therefore involves both the government's authority to arrange removals to countries other than a migrant's country of origin and the procedural protections that must be provided before those removals occur.

What’s Next

The administration's emergency application now goes before the Supreme Court. The justices will determine whether to intervene while the broader legal dispute continues.

For now, the First Circuit ruling remains a significant obstacle to the administration's preferred process for carrying out third-country removals. The Supreme Court's response could determine whether the government can resume the disputed removals under the procedures it has sought to use or must continue providing the additional notice and fear-of-harm screening required by the lower courts.

The Supreme Court's eventual resolution of the underlying case could also establish how much procedural protection immigration authorities must provide when a person with a final removal order is sent to a country other than the one originally designated for removal.