Last week, the Supreme Court let the Trump administration resume deporting people to countries other than their own. The 6-3 order is temporary, and the justices will hear formal arguments in December.
My view is simple. Protecting citizens is government’s first job. Voters hired this administration to do it, and Congress should write a fast, lawful process, so judges don’t have to improvise one.
The stay pauses a February ruling by U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy, largely upheld by the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, that required written notice and a chance to object before removal to a third country.
Nobody has decided whether the administration’s process is lawful, and a final decision is expected in 2027. The administration says the policy has run for 15 months and has removed thousands of people.
These removals apply to people already ordered removed. When a home country refuses them, the law lets the government send them to another country that will accept them.
The alternative is detention, and the Supreme Court held in Zadvydas v. Davis that removable people can’t be held indefinitely.
Do you believe the current deportation policy is effective?
Yes, it protects citizens
0% (0 votes)
No, it needs reform
0% (0 votes)
Unsure
0% (0 votes)
It should prioritize safety
0% (0 votes)
In July 2025, DHS said five men sent to Eswatini had convictions that included murder and child rape, and that Vietnam, Jamaica, Cuba, Yemen and Laos wouldn’t take them back.
Every week of delay in cases like those leaves such men in custody at taxpayer expense or, once the Zadvydas clock runs out, possibly on the street
The Justice Department told the Court that DHS canceled a flight carrying 70 people, some with criminal records, after the lower-court rulings.
Critics picture black sites. The tracking data tells a duller story. Refugees International and Human Rights First count more than 25,000 third-country removals to at least 29 countries, about 20,000 of them (roughly 80%) to Mexico, which has a land border and a consulate network.
It isn’t Devil’s Island. Those tallies come from advocacy groups and don’t separate violent offenders from everyone else, so treat them as a floor for debate and not a verdict.
Eight years in private security and executive protection taught me that threats keep their own schedule. Border policy works the same way.
CBP recorded more than 10.8 million encounters nationwide from fiscal 2021 through 2024, according to a House Homeland Security tally of agency data. Encounters count events, so repeat crossers inflate the figure. Still, no agency clears a backlog like that one hearing at a time.
Consider Martha’s Vineyard. In September 2022, nearly 50 migrants landed on the island that gave us “Jaws.” Within days, Gov. Charlie Baker moved them to Joint Base Cape Cod, saying the island lacked the resources to house them.
Folks who want people with removal orders to stay put through years of appeals are welcome to host them. I’ll wait.
The other side deserves a fair hearing. Challengers told the Court that deportees have faced beatings, sexual assault, and disappearance abroad. Those are allegations, and a person with a real fear of torture should get to say so before boarding a plane.
Not every person on a flight has a criminal record, and a manifest is a blunt instrument. The government replies that finding willing countries is a delicate diplomatic endeavor that a patchwork of court-ordered procedures can wreck.
Both sides have a point, which is why the line belongs to Congress, and not a single district judge.
So draw it. Amend 8 U.S.C. 1231(b) to set a fixed notice window of 48 hours, require a prompt fear screening by an asylum officer, conducted by video at the detention site with counsel allowed to attend, and publish the list of receiving countries with the written assurances behind each.
Judges get a clear standard to review. DHS gets a clear rule to follow. Detainees get a hearing before departure, while it still matters.
My son graduated from West Point, and my brother spent his career as a Green Beret weapons sergeant. In my family, the lesson is that a mission without clear rules of engagement fails twice, once in the field and once in the courtroom.
Public safety needs both to hold. The Court bought time last week. Congress should spend it.
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