Judge rejects rapid Trump administration deportations to third countries [View all]

Source: The Hill

02/25/26 2:54 PM ET


A federal judge in Boston ruled against the Trump administration’s request to lift a block on a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policy that allows federal officials to deport migrants to countries other than their own. In a Wednesday order, U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy said this third-country removal policy “is not fine, nor is it legal,” citing individual rights to due process enshrined under the U.S. Constitution.

The ruling stemmed from a March 2025 class-action lawsuit from four migrant petitioners against DHS’s deportation processes as the department updated its policy to remove procedural requirements regulating the deportation of migrants from the U.S. Under this policy, DHS permits migrants to be “removed without the need for further procedures” if the U.S. has confirmed with a country that individuals deported there “will not be persecuted or tortured.”

“This new policy—which purports to stand in for the protections Congress has mandated—fails to satisfy due process for a raft of reasons, not least of which is that nobody really knows anything about these purported ‘assurances,’” the Biden-appointee wrote, rattling off a list of questions about the policy’s applications.

The Trump administration expects the case will be elevated to the U.S. Supreme Court for a final ruling. The high court has previously intervened in the case, overriding Murphy’s April preliminary injunction that prevented DHS from deporting migrant petitioners to third countries.

Read more: https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5755217-trump-deportation-policy-ruled-illegal/