— The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed President Donald Trump’s administration to resume deporting migrants to countries other than their own, even when they have no connection to those nations.

The decision puts on hold a lower court ruling that found the Department of Homeland Security’s “third-country” deportation policy unlawful. The Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case in December.

The policy allows the United States to send some migrants with final removal orders to countries other than their homelands, including in cases where their home governments will not accept them or they cannot legally be returned there.

More than 25,000 migrants have been deported to 29 countries under the policy since it was introduced last year, with most sent to Mexico. Others have been sent to countries including South Sudan, Uganda, Equatorial Guinea, Liberia and the Central African Republic.

The legal battle centres largely on what protections migrants must receive before being sent to a third country.

U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy previously ruled that the policy violated immigration procedures and Fifth Amendment due-process protections because migrants were not adequately given notice and an opportunity to argue that they could face persecution or torture in the proposed destination. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld most of that ruling earlier this month.

The Trump administration argues that third-country deportations are an important tool for removing people who cannot be sent to their home countries, including some migrants with criminal records.

Lawyers representing migrants counter that the policy can expose deportees — including people with no criminal history — to persecution, torture or other serious harm in countries where they may never have lived.

The Supreme Court’s three liberal justices dissented from Tuesday’s decision allowing the deportations to resume while the case continues.

The order is temporary and does not represent the Supreme Court’s final ruling on whether the policy is lawful. The justices are expected to consider the broader legal challenge after hearing arguments in December.

This article was originally published by Antigua News Room. Read the original article here: Supreme Court Allows Trump to Restart Deportations to Countries Migrants Have No Connection To.