Supreme Court Blocks Notice For Secret US Deportations To Third Countries
The accountability gap: the transfer agreements, the payments attached to them, and any monitoring of what happens after landing are not published, so the government's stated rationale cannot be tested against a public record; the Court's December review covers notice and due process, not transparency.
The accountability gap: the transfer agreements, the payments attached to them, and any monitoring of what happens after landing are not published, so the government's stated rationale cannot be tested against a public record; the Court's December review covers notice and due process, not transparency.
UN human rights experts said on September 28 that the United States has sent at least 23,000 people to 29 third countries under largely secret agreements, and the next day the Supreme Court stayed a ruling requiring notice before such removals.
Why it matters: Foreign-assistance money moves on terms Congress has not published, and the notice standard the Court sets for this group becomes precedent for how much process any person gets before removal.
Date to watch: December 2026 Supreme Court argument session, DHS v. D.V.D., No. 26-426
Sources:
- OHCHR: UN experts' statement (2026-09-28)
https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/09/us-migration-externalization-scheme-mires-over-35-other-states-triggering - Supreme Court order, No. 26-426 (2026-09-29)
https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/092926zr2_1a7d.pdf - UN Special Rapporteur on migrants (2026-06-22)
https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-migrants - Third Country Deportation Watch (2026-09-01)
https://www.thirdcountrydeportationwatch.org/ - NBC News (2026-09-29)
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-allows-trumps-third-country-deportation-policy-rcna599724 - Reagan Library: 1988 CAT message (1988-05-20)
https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/message-senate-transmitting-convention-against-torture-and-inhuman-treatment-or - 8 U.S.C. 1231 (US Code) (2026-01-01)
https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title8-section1231&num=0&edition=prelim
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