The US Supreme Court paved the way on Monday on the resumption of expulsion of undocumented migrants to foreign countries from which they did not come, a victory for the Trump administration.
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The not signed decision of the Court, dominated by the conservatives, was rendered in response to an emergency appeal by the Ministry of Justice aimed at lifting a stay imposed by a lower court on these expulsions.
The Supreme Court did not explain its decision and the three progressive judges expressed their disagreement. The case contesting these expulsions to third countries will now be examined by a court of appeal, but the decision of the Supreme Court allows, for the moment, to prosecute them.
Federal judge Brian Murphy had ordered expulsion to third countries in April, saying that undocumented persons did not have the opportunity to challenge them.
He then declared that immigrants had to have at least 15 days to challenge their expulsion and provide evidence that they risked torture or death if they were expelled from the United States.
The initial case concerns eight immigrants sentenced to violent crimes in the United States, the government said. Embarked in a flight to South Sudan, they have, since this court decision, in Djibouti. These are two Burmese, a Vietnamese, a Laotian, two Cubans, a Mexican and a South Sudanese.
Progressive judge Sonia Sotomayor gave an opinion in which she accuses the administration of “obvious illegal conduct” which “exposes thousands of people to the risk of torture or death”.
“The administration clearly indicated, in words and acts, that it did not feel constrained by law and that it was free to expel anyone, anywhere, without notice or possibility of being heard,” she added.
The Ministry of Internal Security (DHS) praised the decision of the Supreme Court as a “victory for the safety and security of the American people”.
Donald Trump erected the fight against illegal immigration in absolute priority, evoking an “invasion” of the United States by “criminals from abroad” and communicating abundantly on the expulsions of immigrants.
But his massive expulsion program was thwarted or slowed down by multiple court decisions, including on the part of the Supreme Court, in particular on the grounds that the people targeted should be able to assert their rights.
