In a sharp rebuke to her conservative colleagues, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor accused the Court of “rewarding lawlessness” after a 6-3 decision allowed the Trump administration to deport immigrants to countries they’ve never lived in — including dangerous, war-torn nations like South Sudan and Libya.
The ruling overturned a federal judge’s order that required the government to give deportees a fair chance to argue their case before being sent to such places. Now, under this decision, the government can deport people without giving them time or notice to fight for protection — even if they face torture or death.
The Court offered no explanation for its decision. The three liberal justices dissented, and Sotomayor didn’t hold back.
“By rewarding lawlessness, the Court once again undermines” due process, she wrote.
She called the majority’s move an “abuse” of power, criticizing them for rushing to help Trump — again — without following normal procedure.
“Apparently, the Court finds the idea that thousands will suffer violence in far-flung locales more palatable than the remote possibility” that a federal judge exceeded his authority by requiring the government “to provide notice and process to which the plaintiffs are constitutionally and statutorily entitled,” she added.
“That use of discretion is as incomprehensible as it is inexcusable.”
The decision immediately set off celebration inside Trump’s Department of Homeland Security.
“Fire up the deportation planes,” wrote Tricia McLaughlin, a DHS assistant secretary, on X.
Secretary Kristi Noem posted a GIF of Trump dancing.
But on the ground, the situation is grim.
In May, federal Judge Brian Murphy slammed the Trump administration for suddenly announcing that immigrants with criminal convictions would be deported to South Sudan — a country where Trump’s own State Department says people face slavery, torture, and murder.
Murphy, appointed by President Biden, warned he might hold officials in criminal contempt for ignoring his orders. He said the administration was “manufacturing chaos.”
The immigrants were flown to a U.S. base in Djibouti, where they’re being held as they wait to be shipped to South Sudan. Government lawyers complained about conditions at the facility, prompting Murphy to respond sarcastically: “It turns out that having immigration proceedings on another continent is harder and more logistically cumbersome” than the administration anticipated.
An immigration official reported that the detained immigrants and officers in Djibouti are stuck in filthy conditions, breathing in toxic smoke from burn pits and battling illness.
The government accused Murphy of “stranding” ICE agents overseas, but he never ordered anyone to stay there.
After the Supreme Court ruling, lawyers for the deportees in Djibouti rushed back to Murphy’s courtroom, asking for emergency protection to stop their removal to South Sudan — a “volatile country where they likely will face indefinite detention and other forms of torture.”
The White House lashed out at Murphy, calling him a “far-left activist” who wants to “protect violent criminal illegal immigrants.”
Trump himself weighed in, calling Murphy “absolutely out of control” and accusing him of “hurting our country.”
But in the eyes of Justice Sotomayor, the bigger danger is the Court’s willingness to side with a lawless administration.
