The Supreme Court overruled a lower court this Tuesday, allowing the Trump administration to continue deporting illegal aliens to countries of its choosing. The ruling vacates a Massachusetts district court decision that halted a deportation flight carrying 70 illegal aliens.
The Supreme Court’s ruling is a temporary victory for the administration, as the justices will now hear arguments on the issue. The outcome of Department of Justice v. D.V.D. will determine whether illegal aliens have a right to demand deportation to a country of their choosing. In the meantime, Trump’s deportation flights will continue as before.
In Department of Justice v. D.V.D., left-wing immigrant rights organizations sued the government on behalf of illegal aliens, accusing the government of “torture” by sending them to countries they claim are not safe.
The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) does stipulate that illegal aliens with a final order of removal may choose the country to which they are to be deported, and if there are no barriers to deporting them there, the federal government must honor their choice. However, the INA also provides the federal government with a wide range of circumstances that allow it to choose a third country.
These include if the country chosen by the alien does not accept them, the receiving nation does not respond to the United States in a timely manner, or if the government determines that honoring the illegal’s choice would be “prejudicial to the United States.”
Ultimately, the case hinges on procedural debates and whether the illegal aliens would actually face persecution or torture in the countries to which they are being deported. Plaintiffs do not have a chance of achieving a blanket ban on third-country deportations overall, and if successful, would only be able to change specific countries chosen for removal. This reveals the true purpose of the lawsuit: a delaying tactic meant to disrupt deportation operations.
The Supreme Court made the correct decision overturning the stay of third-country deportations. Left-wing organizations have a repeated strategy of bringing lawsuits with the goal of getting temporary injunctions that block policies they don’t like, then dragging out the case as long as possible.
Illegal aliens should not get a free pass to avoid deportation just because there is an unproven claim in court. Many of these illegal aliens are criminals guilty of murder, rape, or other violent crimes, and are seeking to avoid being deported to countries where they have convictions and would be held accountable. America owes criminal aliens nothing beyond what the law requires. They should be grateful that the United States allows them any input regarding where they are deported.