The Trump administration deported eight migrants to South Sudan, according to a Department of Homeland Security official, after the administration had to halt their deportation to a base in Djibouti.
“A district judge cannot dictate the national security and foreign policy of the United States of America,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said to ABC News. “This Independence Day marks another victory for the safety and security of the American people.”
The plane landed in South Sudan just before midnight on Friday.
The eight migrants, who DHS has alleged have serious criminal convictions, were the subject of a lawsuit that had halted their deportation to South Sudan and diverted them to a U.S. military base in Djibouti.
The conditions at the base, according to court filings, were both challenging for the detainees and ICE officials who were tasked with watching them.
The lawsuit made it all the way up to the Supreme Court and the court ruled that the Trump administration was not bound by a lower court order to keep them at a military facility in Djibouti.
In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court on Thursday clarified that the noncitizens the Trump administration moved to deport to South Sudan — and has since held temporarily in Djibouti in legal limbo — is not bound by a lower court order to keep them there as legal proceedings play out.
The decision is another win for the Trump administration and its unprecedented effort to deport immigrants to countries with which they have no ties and where they may face mistreatment.
In an unsigned opinion, the Supreme Court explained that when it lifted judge-imposed due process requirements for third-country removals last month the government can no longer be held to account for allegedly violating the requirements.
One of the lawyers representing the group of men called their deportation to South Sudan “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 U.S. 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.”
-ABC News’ Laura Romero contributed to this report.
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