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President Donald Trump's administration asked the US Supreme Court on Tuesday to intervene in its effort to rapidly deport migrants to countries other than their own without the opportunity to raise claims that they fear being persecuted, tortured or killed there.
The Justice Department requested that the justices lift Boston-based US District Judge Brian Murphy's nationwide injunction requiring that migrants be given the chance to seek legal relief from deportation before they are sent to so-called "third countries," while litigation continues in the case.
The administration's filing represents its latest trip to the nation's highest judicial body as it seeks a freer hand to pursue Trump's crackdown on immigration and contest lower court decisions that have impeded the Republican president's policies.
The administration said Murphy's injunction is preventing potentially thousands of pending deportations.
The dispute arose after the Department of Homeland Security moved in February to determine if people granted protections against being removed to their home countries could be re-detained and sent to a third country.
Immigrant rights groups mounted a class action lawsuit on behalf of a group of migrants seeking to prevent rapid deportation to newly identified third countries without notice and a chance to assert the harms they could face.
In March, the administration issued guidance providing that if a third country has given credible diplomatic assurance that it will not persecute or torture migrants, individuals may be deported there "without the need for further procedures."
Without such assurance, if the migrant expresses fear of removal to that country, US authorities would assess the likelihood of persecution or torture, possibly referring the person to an immigration court, according to the guidance.
Murphy issued a preliminary injunction in April, finding that the administration's policy of "executing third-country removals without providing notice and a meaningful opportunity to present fear-based claims" likely violates due process protections under US Constitution's Fifth Amendment.
Due process protections generally require the government to provide notice and an opportunity for a hearing before taking certain adverse actions.
Murphy said that the Supreme Court, Congress, "common sense" and "basic decency" all require migrants to be given adequate due process.
The Boston-based 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals on May 16 declined to put Murphy's decision on hold.
The administration has said that its policy complies with due process requirements and that judge's injunction undermines the president's "broad authority" over immigration.
As with previous cases challenging Trump's far-reaching executive actions and initiatives, the case raised further questions over whether the administration is defying court orders.
Murphy on May 21 ruled that the administration had violated his court order by attempting to deport migrants to South Sudan.
