LEILA FADEL, HOST:
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling handed down last night makes it easier for the Trump administration to deport immigrants to countries that are not their own.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
A federal judge in Boston had put that plan on hold, saying deportees were being denied due process. But the Supreme Court yesterday reversed that, enabling those deportations to continue. It's a decision that is alarming many immigrants' rights activists.
FADEL: NPR's Tovia Smith joins us now from Boston. Good morning, Tovia.
TOVIA SMITH, BYLINE: Good morning.
FADEL: So what do we know about the court's reasoning here?
SMITH: Actually, not much because the justices did not explain their reasoning at all in their order, and that's not uncommon in an emergency request like this. But the court's three liberal justices dissented, and they wrote 19 pages about their reasoning. So I can tell you they have concerns about due process, and they worry that this decision basically rewards lawlessness, as they put it. Say the Trump administration, quote, "openly flouted" court orders regarding deportations, and it, quote, has made clear that it feels "unconstrained by law, free to deport anyone anywhere without notice or an opportunity to be heard." I'll just add a federal judge in Boston, Brian Murphy, who was appointed by former President Biden, he suggested in his case the government's behavior might amount to criminal obstruction.
FADEL: OK, so we know a lot about why the three justices dissented. What kind of reaction have you heard from outside the court?
SMITH: Well, as you alluded to, a lot of concern from immigrant rights groups. One called the ruling disastrous, saying that thousands of migrants could now be sent to countries where they might be at risk of torture or inhumane treatment without a chance to challenge their deportation ahead of time. I also spoke to one of the lawyers who started this case, Anwen Hughes. She represented eight men who were being deported to South Sudan, a country they had no ties to, and she argued they were denied their due process. Now she says she's worried for many more.
ANWEN HUGHES: The risks of harm that people face are extreme. I mean, they include torture. They include death. That harm cannot be undone. And, I mean, it's terrifying, frankly.
FADEL: So what does the Trump administration say to that?
SMITH: Well, they argue that it's what they call activist judges who are overstepping what's lawful by imposing what they call onerous requirements that infringe on the president's authority. The Department of Homeland Security hailed yesterday's Supreme Court order as a victory for their efforts to remove the, quote, "worst of the worst" undocumented immigrants. In a social media post, DHS said the people being deported are, quote, "convicted murderers, child rapists and drug traffickers," so uniquely barbaric, DHS says, that their own countries won't take them back. DHS ends its post saying, quote, "fire up the deportation planes."
FADEL: Now, this isn't the end of this legal dispute, right, Tovia? What happens now?
SMITH: That's right. Even though this order came from the Supreme Court, it's not the last word here. The underlying issue of what is adequate due process for deportees is now pending in a federal appeals court. Yesterday's Supreme Court order is just about what happens in the meantime. And I'll note, this does not really change things for the eight migrants whose deportations started this case, the ones who were going to be sent to South Sudan but were diverted to Djibouti in East Africa. The first few of them are now being given their due process by remote hearing from Djibouti. Judge Murphy from Boston ordered that saying, since DHS failed to do it before the deportations, DHS needs to do it now. And last night, Judge Murphy made clear that order still stands. So bottom line, for those men, their due process rights appear more secure, at least right now, than they are for others who may face deportation in the future.
FADEL: NPR's Tovia Smith. Thank you for your reporting, Tovia.
SMITH: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF RAY LAMONTAGNE'S "SO, DAMNED, BLUE") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
