The Supreme Court has allowed the Trump administration to move forward with deporting eight immigrants currently held at a U.S. military base in Djibouti, clearing the path for their removal to South Sudan. The unsigned order reaffirmed the Court’s earlier decision to pause a lower-court ruling that restricted deportations to countries not explicitly listed in removal orders. That lower ruling, issued by Judge Brian Murphy in Massachusetts, required the government to follow additional safeguards and verify that individuals would not face torture if returned to a third country.

After the administration appealed, arguing that Murphy’s requirements disrupted diplomatic and national-security operations, the Court sided with federal officials. Conservative justices emphasized that Murphy’s injunction could not be enforced while under stay, while liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented sharply. Sotomayor warned that the eight men—reportedly from Cuba, Vietnam, and Laos—risk being sent to a nation plagued by violence, kidnappings, and armed conflict, without adequate protections against torture or death. The decision highlights the ongoing clash between executive power, judicial oversight, and humanitarian concerns as the legal fight over “third-country removals” continues to unfold.