Trump administration seeks Supreme Court nod for quick third-country deportations

The Trump administration on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to again permit it to carry out quick deportations of immigrants to third countries where they have no ties, according to court filings.

The request follows lower court rulings that people must be given an opportunity to object before the U.S. government sends them to countries other than their homelands.

The justices had earlier allowed such deportation flights to continue temporarily when the matter first reached them last year. Since then, an appeals court has upheld a Boston-based judge's final ruling that migrants must have a meaningful chance to argue that a third-country deportation would place them in danger of persecution or torture.

That ruling did not ban the deportations outright, but it lengthened the process. The government contends the requirement has already caused a flight to be cancelled.

The administration has said it sends people to third countries when it cannot quickly return them to their homelands. Attorneys have said those third-country governments provide assurances that individuals will not be persecuted or tortured.

Under a series of agreements with nearly two dozen countries, including South Sudan, Equatorial Guinea and Panama, the administration has deported thousands of people.

This month, lawyers for two men deported to Equatorial Guinea said they were beaten and held at gunpoint in a hotel-turned-detention centre by police who covered their heads with bags.

The case is unfolding amid a sweeping immigration crackdown by the administration, which has pledged to deport millions of people living in the United States illegally.