A US federal judge ruled the Trump administration’s policy of deporting migrants to third countries is unlawful, citing due process and safety concerns
WASHINGTON: A US federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration’s policy of deporting undocumented migrants to countries other than their own is unlawful.
District Judge Brian Murphy issued the ruling on so-called “third-country deportations” but placed it on hold for 15 days to allow for a government appeal.
“This case is about whether the Government may, without notice, deport a person to the wrong country, or a country where he is likely to be persecuted, or tortured,” Murphy wrote in his decision.
He criticised the Department of Homeland Security’s stance that deporting a migrant to a third country is acceptable if they will not be “shot on arrival”.
“It is not fine, nor is it legal,” the judge stated, emphasising that Congress has established a US policy against deporting people to nations where their lives are in danger.
Murphy highlighted that the DHS policy allows immigration officers to act “without notice or any opportunity to object before removing someone to an unfamiliar and potentially dangerous country”.
The policy relies on receiving “‘assurances’ that no persecution or torture will happen” in the destination country.
“This new policy — which purports to stand in for the protections Congress has mandated — fails to satisfy due process for a raft of reasons,” Murphy argued.
He questioned the credibility and transparency of these assurances, asking, “Whom do they cover? What do they cover? Why has the Government deemed them credible?”
Murphy, an appointee of President Joe Biden, had previously tried to block the deportation of a group of migrants to war-torn South Sudan but was overruled by the Supreme Court.
US authorities described the eight men involved in that case as convicted violent criminals from Myanmar, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, Mexico and South Sudan.
The Trump administration has defended the policy as necessary when the home countries of those targeted for removal refuse to accept them.
Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to expel millions of undocumented migrants and has pursued several actions to accelerate deportations since returning to office.
