The United States government is planning to speed up the deportation of migrants to countries other than their home nations, following a new ruling by the Supreme Court. A recent memo from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shows that deportations could happen with as little as six hours’ notice in certain cases, signaling a stronger push to remove migrants from the country quickly.
According to the memo, issued on July 9 by ICE acting director Todd Lyons, officials usually wait at least 24 hours after informing someone that they will be sent to a third country. However, in urgent cases, migrants may now be removed within just six hours, as long as they have had the chance to speak to a lawyer. The memo says the migrants will be sent to countries that have promised not to harm or torture them, and no additional screening will be needed.
This shift comes after the Supreme Court lifted a previous order that required checks for possible harm in the destination country. As a result, the Trump administration quickly sent eight migrants from countries like Cuba, Mexico, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos, and Sudan to South Sudan. Libya was also named as a possible country for future deportations.
Officials in the Trump administration are now asking countries such as Liberia, Mauritania, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, and Gabon to accept migrants who are not from those nations. The administration says these third-country deportations are a fast way to remove people who do not qualify to stay in the United States, especially those with criminal records.
However, immigration advocates have strongly criticized the new policy. They argue that it is dangerous and inhumane, since people could be sent to countries where they have no family, do not speak the language, and may face violence. Trina Realmuto, a lawyer from the National Immigration Litigation Alliance, called the policy unfair and said it fails to meet legal protections required by US law.
Third-country deportations are not new, but they could now become more common as the Trump team pushes for record numbers of removals. During his presidency from 2017 to 2021, Trump’s administration carried out small-scale deportations of Salvadorans and Hondurans to Guatemala.
Meanwhile, under former President Joe Biden, the US worked out a deal with Mexico to accept thousands of migrants from countries like Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti, and Nicaragua. That plan was made because deporting migrants directly to those countries had become difficult.
The ICE memo that outlines this new deportation process was included as evidence in a legal case involving Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident who was wrongly deported to El Salvador. His case has added more attention to the growing concerns around third-country deportations and the speed at which they may now occur.