On Thursday afternoon, the Supreme Court issued a follow-up order in a closely-watched case involving the removal of illegal aliens to third countries. In a 7-2 ruling, the court granted the Trump administration's motion to clarify and affirmed that its stay of the lower court's April 18 injunction meant that the lower court could not then use its later, derivative orders to essentially continue enforcing the now-stayed injunction.
Yes, 7-2 — Justice Elena Kagan concurred with Thursday's ruling, despite the fact that she'd dissented from the court's prior ruling granting the stay.
There's quite a bit to unpack here, and we're heading into a holiday weekend, so I'll try to distill it as succinctly as possible:
The Supreme Court's ruling is brief and unsigned/per curiam. Some highlights from it:
On June 23, we stayed the April 18 preliminary injunction pending disposition of any appeal and petition for writ of certiorari. Later that day, however, the District Court issued a minute order stating that the May 21 remedial order “remain[ed] in full force and effect,” “notwithstanding” our stay of the preliminary injunction. ECF Doc. 176. The only authority it cited was the dissent from the stay order.
...
Our June 23 order stayed the April 18 preliminary injunction in full. The May 21 remedial order cannot now be used to enforce an injunction that our stay rendered unenforceable.
But here's the best part. As noted above, Justice Kagan, who dissented from the original stay order, concurred with today's ruling. Here, she explains why succinctly (citations omitted):
I voted to deny the Government’s previous stay application in this case, and I continue to believe that this Court should not have stayed the District Court’s April 18 order enjoining the Government from deporting non-citizens to third countries without notice or a meaningful opportunity to be heard. But a majority of this Court saw things differently, and I do not see how a district court can compel compliance with an order that this Court has stayed. Because continued enforcement of the District Court’s May 21, 2025 order would do just that, I vote to grant the Government’s motion for clarification.
Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented from today's ruling, of course.
So, now Judge Murphy has been schooled on not attempting an end-around of a Supreme Court ruling...and DHS may proceed with escorting the aliens to their intended destination in South Sudan.
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