A United States federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration’s policy of rapidly deporting migrants to countries other than their own is unlawful, concluding that the practice violates constitutional due process protections.
U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy in Massachusetts issued the decision Wednesday, finding that migrants must be given meaningful notice and an opportunity to challenge their removal before being sent to a third country.
Murphy suspended the ruling for 15 days to allow the Department of Homeland Security to appeal, potentially setting up another review by the Supreme Court.
In his opinion, Murphy rejected the administration’s argument that deportations to third countries were permissible so long as officials were not aware of specific threats awaiting migrants upon arrival.
“It is not fine, nor is it legal,” Murphy wrote, emphasizing that individuals cannot be sent to an “unfamiliar and potentially dangerous country” without legal recourse.
He stated that due process is a bedrock constitutional principle, declaring that no person may be deprived of liberty without fair legal proceedings.
Murphy concluded that the policy “extinguishes valid challenges to third-country removal by effecting removal before those challenges can be raised.”
He also wrote, “The simple reality is that nobody knows the merits of any individual class member’s claim because (administration officials) are withholding the predicate fact: the country of removal.”
The ruling marks the latest development in a prolonged legal battle over the administration’s mass deportation campaign.
The case stems from a class-action lawsuit brought by immigrants facing removal to countries with which they had no ties.
Murphy noted that previous efforts to block such deportations had been overturned by the Supreme Court, including a decision last year allowing a flight carrying migrants to South Sudan to proceed.
In that instance, eight men with final removal orders were sent to the conflict-affected nation despite concerns about human rights conditions.
Murphy also cited instances in which migrants were deported to El Salvador and Mexico without the process required under a temporary restraining order.
Trina Realmuto, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said the policy had resulted in people being returned to countries where immigration judges had found they would face persecution or torture.