The U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay order in the case of *Department of Homeland Security v. D.V.D.* at the start of its 2026-27 term, allowing the Trump administration to resume deporting undocumented individuals to third countries without providing individualized hearings. The ruling pauses a lower court order that had halted these removal flights, which the government argued disrupted sensitive diplomatic arrangements and caused substantial logistical expenses. The administration sought the emergency stay after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit upheld a judgment by U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy, which required DHS to provide notice and a meaningful opportunity for migrants to demonstrate a fear of persecution before being sent to a third country.
The litigation involves a class action representing individuals such as D.V.D., a Cuban national with severe mental illness, and O.C.G., a Guatemalan man who has faced threats due to his sexual orientation. The plaintiffs allege that a February 2025 DHS policy violates the Fifth Amendment and federal statutes, including the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act (FARRA) and 8 U.S.C. section 1231, which prohibit the involuntary return of persons to countries where they face a danger of torture. While the statutes do not explicitly mandate hearings, lower courts held such protections were implied to avoid constitutional conflicts.
Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued that the government is likely to succeed on the merits, asserting that federal law does not require individualized hearings when removals are supported by diplomatic assurances. According to the government, individuals are only sent to nations that have provided credible assurances to Secretary of State Marco Rubio that deportees will not be persecuted. The administration reported that the lower court’s freeze had already forced the cancellation of a flight intended to carry 70 people to three different countries.
This marks the second time the case has reached the high court. In June 2025, the Supreme Court issued an unsigned order allowing deportations to continue while the case proceeded, prompting a 19-page dissent from Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Following the most recent appellate ruling, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who oversees emergency matters for the 1st Circuit, had ordered a response from plaintiffs by Monday, September 28. The Supreme Court granted the stay without providing a detailed substantive explanation, though it also granted certiorari to hear the full merits of the case later in the term.