Appeals court restores Trump’s nationwide fast-track deportations
Why it matters: The ruling lets immigration agents remove some undocumented migrants within days, without a hearing before a judge.
A federal appeals court on Tuesday let the Trump administration restart expedited removal across the United States, reviving a major piece of President Donald Trump’s mass-deportation agenda. A divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit wiped out a lower court order that had temporarily blocked the policy. Expedited removal allows quick deportation without an appearance before an immigration judge. Trump expanded the practice in January beyond migrants caught at or near the border to undocumented migrants nationwide. The majority said the challengers had not shown the policy violated due process, while opponents, including the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, warned it increases the risk of wrongful deportations.