The Supreme Court of the United States authorized the Donald Trump administration to deport eight men, who have been detained for weeks at a U.S. military base in Djibouti, to South Sudan, a nation affected by internal armed conflict and with which almost none of the deportees have any connection.
Seven out of the eight individuals come from Vietnam, South Korea, Mexico, Laos, Cuba, and Myanmar (Burma). Only one of the detainees is from South Sudan.
Why did the Supreme Court approve the deportation to South Sudan?
The court’s decision came after a previous ruling, issued last month, in which the conservative majority determined that migration officials are authorized to swiftly deport people to third countries, even if they have no ties to the place they will be sent to.
This new ruling overrides a previous decision by a federal district judge, which had ordered that immigrants could not be deported to a third country without first having the opportunity to demonstrate that they faced a risk of torture, persecution, or death.
Attorney Trina Realmuto, who represents the eight men and serves as the executive director of the National Immigration Litigation Alliance, expressed her concern about the situation, stating that the detainees could face “dangerous conditions, and potentially immediate detention upon arrival,” as highlighted by The Guardian.
Two liberal justices of the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson, disagreed with the decision, criticizing what they described as preferential treatment towards the Executive.
In her dissenting opinion, Sotomayor wrote: “What the government wants to do, specifically, is to send the eight non-citizens it illegally removed from the United States from Djibouti to South Sudan, where they will be handed over to local authorities without considering the likelihood that they may face torture or death.” She added that “today’s order clarifies only one thing: other litigants must follow the rules, but the administration has the Supreme Court on speed dial.”
The Trump administration has sought to sign agreements with several countries to accept deportees who cannot be immediately returned to their countries of origin due to diplomatic or security obstacles.
The eight men have a history of serious crimes in the United States, which has been used by the Trump Administration as an argument to justify their removal. Although many had already served their sentences or were close to completing them, all had active deportation orders.
One of the mentioned cases is that of Tuan Thanh Phan, who arrived in the United States from Vietnam as a child and was sentenced to prison after killing a person in a gang fight at 18 years old. Phan had expressed his intention to return to Vietnam after serving his sentence.
Changes of destination and reports of medical conditions
Initially, the detainees were informed that they would be deported to South Africa, and they were asked to sign documents to formalize their departure. When they refused, the case was brought before Federal Judge Brian E. Murphy, of the Massachusetts district. The judge ruled that any immigrant sent to a third country must first receive written notice and the opportunity to express a reasonable fear of being subjected to torture.
However, U.S. authorities later communicated that the final destination would be South Sudan. During that period, the government did not provide Judge Murphy with information about the exact whereabouts of the men or details of their transfer. It was later confirmed that the group had been transported to Camp Lemonnier, a U.S. military base in Djibouti.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents guarded the detainees in 12-hour shifts. In an affidavit presented to the court, an ICE official described health problems among the detainees and agents, lack of proper medical attention, exposure to the risk of malaria, and concern about possible attacks by militants from Yemen.
In May, the Trump administration requested direct intervention from the Supreme Court to immediately authorize the deportation of the eight men to South Sudan.