(MENAFN) The US Supreme Court has approved the Biden administration’s authority to deport immigrants to third countries, including conflict-affected nations like South Sudan and Libya, regardless of the migrants’ countries of origin.

This ruling, issued on Monday, overturns a previous lower court injunction that had blocked these emergency deportations over safety concerns. Since his return to office in January, President Donald Trump has reinstated stringent immigration policies aimed at reversing the “open border” stance of his predecessor, Joe Biden.

In February, the Department of Homeland Security expanded expedited deportations to third countries, triggering a class-action lawsuit from immigrant rights groups representing migrants facing removal without prior notice or a chance to contest their deportation.

On April 18, US District Judge Brian Murphy ruled that deporting migrants to countries other than their own without due process clearly violated constitutional rights. This injunction led to eight migrants being detained at a US military base in Djibouti after being flown out for deportation.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, dissenting in the Supreme Court decision, accused the government of disregarding the lower court’s injunction, noting that six migrants were sent to South Sudan with under 16 hours’ notice and no chance to be heard.

She argued that the Supreme Court should have allowed lower courts to carefully handle the complex case rather than granting the government emergency relief amid repeated non-compliance.

The US State Department currently classifies both Libya and South Sudan under its highest travel warnings, citing ongoing armed conflict, crime, and political instability. The US embassy in Libya was closed in 2014 amid unrest following the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi, and in March, non-essential US personnel were withdrawn from South Sudan due to worsening security conditions.

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