DHS Can Again Remove Criminal Aliens to Third Countries after Supreme Court Ejects D.V.D.
By George Fishman on June 27, 2025
Summary
A U.S. district court judge in Massachusetts enjoined the Trump administration from removing aliens who have already received final orders of removal to countries other than their home countries without first giving them a new “meaningful opportunity” to seek relief from removal to those countries pursuant to the Convention Against Torture (CAT). While not ruling on the merits of the case, the Supreme Court stayed the injunction while the district court’s decision undergoes appellate review.
Outraged commentators have proclaimed that the Supreme Court has effectively nullified the Convention Against Torture. The Supreme Court has done nothing of the sort.
First, the legislation implementing CAT, as further clarified by Congress, specifically provides that “the sole and exclusive means for judicial review of any cause or claim” arising under CAT is “a petition for review of a final order of removal”. The aliens here did not seek judicial review through such petitions.
Second, the Clinton administration’s CAT regulations specifically allow the secretary of State to procure “diplomatic assurances” from foreign nations that removed aliens will not be tortured there.
This is exactly what the Trump administration has done, establishing a system under which “the Executive can remove an alien to [a third] country without further process” only if “the United States has received a sufficient assurance from a third country that no aliens will be tortured upon removal there”.
https://cis.org/Fishman/DHS-Can-Again-Remove-Criminal-Aliens-Third-Countries-after-Supreme-Court-Ejects-DVD
