A federal judge on Friday halted a Trump governance program that allowed for expanded expedited deportations across the U.S. U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb issued an order pausing a January directive that broadened this fast-track removal process, previously confined to border regions and recent arrivals, to apply nationwide and to migrants who had been in the country for up to two years. The ruling suggests officials might potentially be violating migrants’ due process rights.
Judge blocks nationwide expedited removal
This ruling substantially impedes the administration’s mass deportation efforts, including arrests at immigration courthouses.
- A federal judge blocked nationwide expedited removal.
- The policy expanded fast-track deportations to all U.S. areas.
- The judge cited potential due process violations.
- The government plans to appeal the decision.
Federal officials are temporarily barred from expanding expedited removal nationwide. Expedited removal allows immigration officers to deport certain migrants without a court hearing unless they claim asylum and pass an initial interview. Previously, this process was limited to migrants apprehended within 100 miles of an international border and present in the U.S. for less than two weeks.
Due process concerns raised
Judge Cobb stated that immigrant advocates challenging the policy’s legality presented a “strong showing” that the expansion “violates the due process rights of those it affects.”
In her opinion, Cobb clarified, “It merely holds that in applying the statute to a huge group of people living in the interior of the country who have not previously been subject to expedited removal, the Government must afford them due process. The procedures currently in place fall short.”
the judge indefinitely postponed the January expansion and its implementing guidance.
