The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has ruled that American immigration officials must provide detainees with a ‘meaningful opportunity to contest’ deportations to nations where they lack ties. This decision challenges the Trump administration’s ‘third-country’ deportation policy, which has sometimes relocated migrants thousands of miles from their home countries. In certain cases, deportees from Latin America ended up in sub-Saharan Africa.
The appellate court largely upheld a lower court decision declaring this policy unlawful. It invalidates the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regulations that permitted federal immigration officials to deport individuals to third countries with minimal notice and limited ability to contest the action.
Implemented last year, the DHS policy allowed officials to deport migrants to a third country without notice, provided that the country has assured the State Department of non-persecution or torture of the deportees. If such guarantees were absent, the policy required officials to inform detainees.
The appeals court upheld District Court Judge Brian Murphy’s previous rulings, which criticized the third-country deportation campaign on due process grounds. The court panel emphasized that deportation to a country where one fears persecution is meaningless without prior notice and a chance to contest.
The National Immigration Litigation Alliance, which challenged the policy, stated that the First Circuit confirmed that the government cannot bypass protections against persecution and torture by altering deportation destinations. Trina Realmuto, the group’s executive director, highlighted that many members of the affected class were deported without notice of possible removal to unfamiliar countries and lacked the opportunity to articulate danger concerns there.
Despite the ruling, DHS General Counsel James Percival noted that the policy persists, as the court’s decision is not currently effective. He asserted that DHS retains the right to send migrants elsewhere if they claim fear in their original country.
The ruling is expected to reach the Supreme Court, representing a notable legal setback for President Trump’s stringent immigration enforcement measures. His administration has crafted third-country deportation agreements with over 30 countries worldwide, including African nations like Liberia. These agreements sometimes result in deportees being sent to third countries when a court order protects them from returning to their country but doesn’t prohibit deportation entirely.
More than 25,000 migrants have been affected by the third-country policy during the Trump administration, with around 80% sent to Mexico. Recently, CBS News reported on deportees flown to Liberia. These included individuals from Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Venezuela, and other parts of Africa. The migrants, accommodated in a hotel, disclosed that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not notify them of deportation to Liberia.
“I’m concerned,” said Elvis Rodriguez Venturas from Honduras. “I feel far away, on the other side of the world.”