The United States Supreme Court gave the green light to President Donald Trump's administration to resume deportations of illegal immigrants to countries other than their places of origin.
With a 6 to 3 vote, the highest court overturned a previous decision by a lower court. The three left-leaning justices voted against the ruling.
The case involves eight illegal immigrants from Myanmar, South Sudan, Cuba, Mexico, Laos, and Vietnam, who were deported in May aboard a plane bound for South Sudan. From the Trump administration they described them as "the worst of the worst."
Donald Trump, presidente de Estados Unidos.
The Department of Homeland Security celebrated the Supreme Court's ruling as “a victory for the safety of the American people.” “Let the deportation planes take off,” said the agency's spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin.
From the Trump administration they stated that the eight illegal immigrants involved in the case had committed “heinous crimes” on U.S. soil, including homicide, arson, and aggravated robbery.
President Trump brought the case before the highest court after a court of appeals in Boston refused last month to overturn the lower court's order.
The initial intervention by federal judge Brian Murphy, appointed by former Democratic president Joe Biden, had forced the government to temporarily detain the illegals in Djibouti, a country in the Horn of Africa where the United States keeps a military base.
During the hearing before the Court, Solicitor General John Sauer explained that immigration agents were forced to improvise a detention center for dangerous individuals, using a conference room as a temporary space.
Inmigrantes ilegales siendo deportados.
Sauer also argued that, in many cases, it is not possible to repatriate immigrants with criminal records to their countries of origin, since these refuse to receive them. According to him, that allows these individuals to remain in the U.S., where they pose a danger to law-abiding citizens.
This Monday's decision represents a new victory for the Republican president in his attempt to resume mass deportations.
Last month, the Court also authorized Trump to eliminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans, a measure that affects approximately 350,000 illegal immigrants.
Additionally, in another ruling issued in May, the court allowed the president to temporarily suspend a humanitarian program that offered residency to about 500,000 illegal immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.
