The Supreme Court has allowed the Trump administration to deport eight men to South Sudan who have been held in a shipping container on a U.S. military base in Djibouti for six weeks. The decision came after a legal battle between the White House and a federal judge in Boston.
According to Politico, the court voted 7-2 to remove an order from U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy that had stopped the deportations. This happened even though Murphy had earlier required the administration to give people being deported advance notice of where they were going and a chance to object if they felt they would be in danger.
“They’re now subject to imminent deportation to war-torn South Sudan, a place where they have no ties and where it is possible, if not probable, that they will be arrested and detained upon arrival,” said Trina Realmuto, an attorney for the men. “This ruling is condoning lawlessness.”
Men have been stuck in makeshift detention since May
Seven of the eight men have no connection to South Sudan. The Trump administration wants to send them there as part of a plan to send people to third countries when U.S. law stops them from being sent to their home countries or when their home countries won’t take them back.
The Supreme Court has allowed the Trump administration to deport eight people held for weeks at a U.S. military base in Djibouti to war-torn South Sudan, a country it has no ties to.
— Christian Amegbor (@ChristianA85471) July 4, 2025
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The men were on a flight in May heading to South Sudan but ended up in Djibouti when Judge Murphy stopped the deportations. Since then, they have been kept in what officials call a converted shipping container on a U.S. military base.
The administration said the judge only gave the men about 16 hours notice before their planned deportation to South Sudan. The State Department has put South Sudan under a “do not travel” warning. Judge Murphy said this short notice didn’t follow his order that required proper advance notice for all “third country” deportations.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor strongly disagreed with the Supreme Court’s decision. Along with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, she said the court was giving special treatment to President Trump. “Other litigants must follow the rules, but the administration has the Supreme Court on speed dial,” Sotomayor wrote in her dissent.
