SCOTUS Decision Could Streamline Deportations

The Supreme Court issued a decision in a case that could accelerate deportations, ruling against a drug-running illegal alien who attempted to appeal his removal order after the deadline.

The case, called Riley v. Bondi, concerns a Jamaican illegal alien and drug trafficker named Pierre Riley who overstayed his visa and was ordered to be removed from the United States, but appealed his removal order.

The final 5-4 decision clarifies the window of time in which an illegal alien is allowed to contest an order of removal.

The illegal alien in the case initially received a deportation deferral order from a judge after claiming that he would be killed if he was sent to Jamaica. The deferral order was revoked, with Riley again attempting to appeal his impending deportation.

The illegal alien had previously racked up a criminal record in the United States.

“He became a member of ‘a far-reaching and well-organized’ drug trafficking gang and was convicted in 2008 for conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana, as well as for possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug- trafficking crime,” Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito pointed out in the opinion.

Riley was then captured by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after serving his sentence and given an initial order of removal in 2021.

The decision in the case specifically sought to clarify if illegal aliens must submit removal appeals within 30 days of receiving a deportation order, or if aliens enjoy a longer window and are allowed to submit an appeal after receiving a decision from the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), a Department of Justice entity that reviews decisions from immigration judges.

The Supreme Court explained that removal order appeals must happen within 30 days of the order itself, rather than after decisions from the BIA. “The 30-day filing deadline cannot be satisfied by filing a petition for review within 30 days of the BIA’s withholding-only order,” the court’s opinion reads.

The case will now be sent back to lower courts for consideration, with the Supreme Court calling on the courts to issue a ruling “consistent with this opinion.”

The Trump administration also received favorable news from the Supreme Court earlier this week when it granted the administration the ability to deport illegal aliens to so-called “third countries,” nations other than the illegal aliens’ country of origin.

That decision paves the way for potentially thousands of deportations of illegal aliens who have received deportation protections barring them from being sent back to their country of origin, also enabling the deportation of illegal aliens whose home countries refuse to take them back.