The US Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Trump administration to temporarily resume deporting migrants to third countries not named in their removal orders, allowing the policy to remain in effect while the court considers the case.

News outlet NPR reported that the justices also agreed to hear arguments in the case in December. The court did not explain its decision to block a lower-court ruling, but asked the parties to address whether lower courts had jurisdiction to intervene and whether the policy violates due process or international conventions against torture, according to the outlet.

Solicitor General John Sauer called the policy "an essential tool to remove certain aliens, including some of the worst criminal aliens." In a Sept. 24 filing, he argued: "While certain aliens may benefit from stalling their removal, the Nation does not."

The administration says it has deported tens of thousands of migrants to Mexico and countries in Africa and Latin America after their home countries refused to accept them.

The ruling marks the third time the Supreme Court has declined to halt such deportations ordered by US District Judge Brian Murphy in Boston. Murphy has argued that migrants are not given adequate notice or a meaningful opportunity to raise fears of torture or abuse.

The National Immigration Litigation Alliance, representing migrants in the case, said those deported without adequate safeguards have faced "prolonged and arbitrary detention, beatings and sexual assault, disappearance, and chain refoulement to countries from which the US had already granted them protection," lawyer Trina Realmuto wrote. "These harms cannot be undone."

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has said Murphy's rulings created logistical problems, including canceled flights, diplomatic tensions and delays in deporting people convicted of assault and drug offenses.

Three liberal justices dissented from Tuesday's decision. (Anadolu Agency)