Supreme Court 6-3 Allows Third-Country Deportations Without Due Process

In a 6-3 decision in DHS v. D.V.D., the Supreme Court allowed DHS to deport immigrants to “third countries”—nations they’re not from—without meaningful opportunity to contest deportation. The ruling stayed a Massachusetts district court order that had required 15 days notice and opportunity to present evidence of danger.

Eight migrants were initially sent to South Sudan, then rerouted to Djibouti where they were held in a shipping container in temperatures exceeding 100°F near burn pits. The conditions illustrated the dangers of deportation to countries with no connection to the deportees and no protections for their safety.

Justice Sotomayor’s dissent warned: “The government has made clear in word and deed that it feels itself unconstrained by law, free to deport anyone, anywhere without notice or an opportunity to be heard.”

The decision represents a fundamental erosion of due process protections, allowing the government to remove people to any country willing to accept them regardless of safety concerns, language barriers, or lack of any ties. It enables deportation as punishment rather than return, with potentially life-threatening consequences for deportees.