The U.S. Supreme Court has granted a request from the Trump administration to stay a lower court’s injunction against its third-country deportation policy. This order permits the administration to continue the practice while the justices prepare to hear arguments on the merits of the legal challenge, which are scheduled for December.

The policy, which has been a point of significant contention, involves the deportation of individuals to countries other than their nation of origin. According to reports, the administration has utilized a series of agreements to facilitate the removal of approximately 25,000 people to over two dozen countries, including Liberia and Guyana. The vast majority of these individuals have been sent to Mexico.

While the Supreme Court’s order allows the policy to remain in effect for now, the vote was not unanimous. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented from the 6-3 decision. The Court’s order was unsigned, meaning it does not establish a final legal precedent on the constitutionality of the policy, but rather addresses the immediate request to pause the lower court's blockade pending further review.