A Biden-appointed judge had his deportation rulings reversed by the Supreme Court twice – including a rare 7-2 order telling him he'd defied the court.
Then he went right back and did it again.
Now SCOTUS just did something that has the Left's open-borders lawyers in full panic mode.
The Rogue Judge Who Keeps Losing to SCOTUS
Judge Brian Murphy of Massachusetts has made a career out of blocking Trump's immigration agenda.
The Supreme Court has already reversed his rulings twice – including a rare 7-2 clarification order issued because Murphy flouted the high court's original instructions.
That kind of rebuke almost never happens.
And yet Murphy kept going.
https://twitter.com/BillMelugin_/status/2089737042594836610?s=20
He ruled in February that the Trump administration's third-country removal policy violated the Fifth Amendment because migrants weren't getting enough notice before deportation.
The First Circuit upheld most of his ruling on September 18 – and issued its order minutes before midnight, forcing the cancellation of a deportation flight carrying 70 people headed to three countries.
Solicitor General John Sauer went straight to the Supreme Court.
He told the justices the midnight ruling was chaos – and that the flight cancellation alone "required a new round of diplomatic engagement with each of the three countries."
SCOTUS agreed.
Six Justices Just Said Enough
Tuesday's 6-3 order was brief, unsigned, and devastating.
The court put Murphy's ruling on hold while the justices weigh the full case – with arguments scheduled for December.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche didn't mince words on X.
"Now for the second time, SCOTUS just granted our stay in conducting all third-country removals of illegal aliens," Blanche wrote. "Again, this is entirely lawful and a critical tool for immigration enforcement. Unlike the lower court, SCOTUS waited to hear from both sides before making the decision."
https://twitter.com/Arkadalo/status/2103293150789763144?s=20
That last sentence matters.
The First Circuit issued its order at midnight without hearing from the administration.
The Supreme Court waited.
The First Circuit didn't.
Why Third-Country Deportations Exist
Dozens of countries around the world simply refuse to take their own citizens back.
Cuba won't take them.
China drags its feet.
Eritrea refuses entirely unless the deportee agrees to go voluntarily.
As of January 2021, nearly 1.2 million people with active removal orders were still walking free in the United States – in large part because their home countries stonewalled deportation.
That's not a loophole.
That's a deliberate strategy by foreign governments to dump their worst citizens on America.
Third-country removal is the answer.
Marco Rubio's State Department has struck agreements with up to 31 nations – mostly in Africa and Latin America – at a cost of at least $410 million pledged through the end of June.
Those countries provide assurances they won't persecute or torture the people being sent there.
DHS has already used the policy to remove more than 25,000 people to 29 countries.
The program works.
A Biden judge tried to kill it.
SCOTUS has now blocked him twice in this case alone.
The December Showdown
The final ruling on third-country deportations won't come until summer 2027, after SCOTUS hears full arguments in December.
https://twitter.com/GuntherEagleman/status/2105145108978970759?s=20
But the pattern is already clear.
Every time the administration takes this case to the Supreme Court, it wins.
Murphy has been reversed.
The First Circuit has been stayed.
The liberal dissenters – Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson – keep writing their outrage into dissenting opinions that go nowhere.
Even Burundi – a country with no prior connection to these migrants – announced Tuesday it would accept deportees from the United States, provided they face no pending prosecution and have no links to terrorism.
The program is expanding.
The deportation flights are back in the air.
And the only people standing in the way are three liberal justices and one Biden judge who keeps getting overruled.
Sources:
- Mariane Angela, "Supreme Court Rules Trump Can Resume Third-Country Deportations," Breitbart, September 29, 2026.
- Todd Blanche, post on X, September 30, 2026.
- Fox News, "Biden-Appointed Judge at Center of Repeated Clashes With Trump Admin Issues New Immigration Block," April 10, 2026.
- Daily Wire, "Biden-Appointed Judge Rules Against Trump's Third Country Deportations," 2026.
