A federal appeals court on Wednesday granted a request from President Trump’s administration to temporarily halt a lower court ruling that would have blocked deportations of illegal immigrants to third countries, just hours before the order was set to take effect.
Administration lawyers had appealed the decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, arguing that the ruling from U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy would disrupt negotiations with foreign governments and jeopardize plans for potentially thousands of deportations. They also said the order conflicted with prior emergency interventions from the Supreme Court of the United States, which allowed the deportation policy to continue last year.
Murphy, appointed by Joe Biden, ruled last month that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security process allowing migrants to be deported to countries other than their homeland violates constitutional due process protections. His 81-page decision said the administration must first attempt removal to a migrant’s country of origin or another location previously designated by an immigration judge before pursuing deportation to a third country.
The judge also said immigrants must receive meaningful notice and a chance to raise fears of persecution through a “reasonable fear” interview before removal to another nation. Murphy had delayed enforcement of the ruling for 15 days to allow the administration time to appeal. Without the appeals court’s intervention, the order was scheduled to take effect Thursday.
The case stems from a class-action lawsuit challenging deportations to countries including South Sudan, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Guatemala.
