Thinknews
Jan 28, 2026

Supreme Court Delivers Another Key Ruling

The Trump administration has been authorized by the Supreme Court to repatriate a group of immigrants detained at a U.S. military base in Djibouti to South Sudan.

The justices confirmed in a brief opinion on Friday that the eight immigrants in U.S. custody in Djibouti are fully covered by their earlier order, which stayed a federal judge’s decision in Massachusetts that had limited the government’s ability to deport immigrants to nations not specifically listed in their removal orders.

The injunction was issued less than two weeks after U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy’s decision was halted by the top court. According to his directive, the federal government could not send immigrants to “third countries”—those not listed in their removal orders—without first ensuring, via a number of precautions, that the individuals would not be subjected to torture upon their return.

According to Murphy’s May 21 ruling, the administration attempted to deploy eight people to South Sudan in violation of his April 18 injunction. All non-emergency workers from South Sudan have been ordered home by the United States, and the State Department advises against traveling there due to “crime, kidnapping, and armed conflict.”

Instead, the jet that was scheduled to transport the migrants to South Sudan touched down in nearby Djibouti. Since then, the men have been detained within a military installation in the United States.

The Trump administration filed an appeal with the Supreme Court on May 27 to suspend Murphy’s April 18 ruling, requesting authorization to carry out “third country” removals while the legal dispute over the practice develops.

According to U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer, Murphy’s “judicially created procedures are currently wreaking havoc on the third-country removal process” and “disrupt[ing] sensitive diplomatic, foreign policy, and national-security efforts.”

The attorneys for the immigrants who might be deported to a third nation urged the justices to uphold Murphy’s ruling. Murphy’s ruling “simply requires” the Trump administration “to follow the law” when carrying out these deportations, they said, but the government may still carry them out.

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