U.S. Deports Eight Men to South Sudan on July 4 After the Supreme Court Clears the Way

A deportation flight carrying eight men landed in South Sudan just before midnight Eastern time on July 4, 2025. None were South Sudanese; they were citizens of Cuba, Mexico, Laos, Myanmar, Sudan and Vietnam convicted of serious crimes in the United States. They had been held for weeks at Camp Lemonnier, a U.S. naval base in Djibouti, after a judge blocked the original May flight; U.S. officials described conditions there as hazardous, citing malaria risk, rocket-attack exposure and heat above 100 degrees. The Supreme Court removed the last obstacle on July 3, clarifying an earlier order to say district judges could not require the government to let detainees contest removal to a third country. Judge Randolph Moss briefly paused the flight on July 4 before deferring to another judge.

The case established that people could be sent to a country with which they have no connection, and which the State Department warns Americans against visiting, without an individualized hearing on whether they would face harm there. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said "a district judge cannot dictate the national security and foreign policy of the United States of America."

The men's status after arrival was not disclosed by the U.S. government. Third-country removal litigation continued in other cases.