Supreme Court Clears the Way for Deportations to Third Countries Such as South Sudan

On June 23, 2025, the Supreme Court granted the government's emergency application in Department of Homeland Security v. D.V.D., staying a district court preliminary injunction that had required notice and an opportunity to raise fear-of-torture claims before immigrants were deported to countries other than their own. The stay runs pending appeal and any petition for certiorari. Justice Sotomayor dissented, joined by Justices Kagan and Jackson, writing that the government had 'openly flouted two court orders' and describing a case in which DHS removed people from their cells and put them on a flight to South Sudan on less than 16 hours' notice, which the dissent said plainly did not allow a meaningful chance to seek protection under the Convention Against Torture.

The order lets the government resume removals to countries with which deportees have no connection while the legality of the notice procedures is still being litigated, shifting the risk of error onto individuals who may have torture claims.

The stay remained in effect through subsequent proceedings; a district court later held the third-country removal policy unlawful, and that dispute continued on appeal.