Six months ago, we checked in on President Donald Trump’s fight over third-country deportations after the First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals gave his administration breathing room while the case continued.
Trump won that round.
Friday, the judges finally ruled on the substance, and the answer is more complicated.
Related: Trump Scores Court Win as Biden-Appointed Judge’s Deportation Block Stalls
The First Circuit ruled that the government may continue removing illegal aliens to third countries, meaning countries other than their own, but DHS can’t simply put someone on a plane without meaningful notice and an opportunity to raise a fear of persecution or torture.
From Bloomberg Law:
DHS issued the guidance permitting the removals in early 2025 as part of a broader immigration enforcement push and arranged deals with third countries to accept deportees who aren’t their citizens.
“An individual’s right to contest removal to a country based on a fear of persecution in that country means little if one does not receive prior notice of the intended removal destination and a meaningful opportunity to contest that destination,” Judge Seth Aframe wrote for the unanimous panel.
The dispute matters because third-party removals have become an important tool for Trump‘s immigration enforcement program. Some countries refuse to take their own nationals back. In other cases, the administration has reached agreements allowing migrants to be sent elsewhere.
More than 25,000 people have been sent to at least 29 third countries under the policy.
The legal problem begins when the destination was never part of the migrant’s original removal proceeding.
Federal law prohibits sending someone to a country where he is likely to be tortured. Existing regulations also provide procedures for people raising fear-based claims. The First Circuit concluded that DHS’s streamlined policy didn’t provide enough opportunity to use those protections.
Hellbound and Down 