NEW: Appeals Court Delivers Massive Victory For Trump, DHS

A federal appeals court on Monday lifted a judge’s order that blocked a Trump administration policy allowing migrants to be rapidly deported to countries other than their own.

In a 2-1 decision, a panel on the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted the administration’s request to pause U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy’s Feb. 25 ruling while the government pursues an appeal.

Murphy had declared the Department of Homeland Security policy unlawful. The policy, adopted in March 2025 as part of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, allows migrants to be deported to third countries without extended notice.

The judge concluded the policy failed to adequately protect migrants’ due process rights and could lead to people being quickly deported to unfamiliar or potentially dangerous countries without notice.

Administration lawyers urged the appeals court to step in, calling Murphy’s ruling “fatally flawed.” They also warned they were prepared to return to the Supreme Court if the appeals court did not grant a stay.

The Supreme Court has already intervened in the case. The justices previously lifted a preliminary injunction Murphy issued in April that had protected migrants facing deportation to third countries. The high court later cleared the way for eight men to be deported to South Sudan.

“The district court’s order creates an unworkable scheme that materially impairs the ability of the government to enforce the immigration laws,” Justice Department lawyers wrote.

DHS agents outside the Border Patrol facility in Broadview, Illinois

Monday’s order was signed by Senior U.S. Circuit Judge Jeffrey R. Howard, an appointee of President George W. Bush, and U.S. Circuit Judge Seth Aframe, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden.

The judges said the court will hear oral arguments after the expedited briefing is completed in mid-April.

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U.S. Circuit Judge Lara Montecalvo, another Biden appointee, dissented and said she would have denied the administration’s request to pause Murphy’s ruling.

“While the order unfortunately delays the restoration of our class members’ ‌statutory and ⁠due process rights, we are glad that the 1st Circuit ordered a swift resolution of the merits of the case,” said Trina Realmuto, a lawyer for the plaintiffs at the National Immigration Litigation Alliance.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said the appeals court had vindicated the agency, which “must be allowed to execute its lawful authority and remove illegal aliens to a country willing to accept them.”

The case stems from a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of migrants facing deportation to countries that were not previously listed in their removal orders or identified during immigration court proceedings.

Under the policy, migrants may be deported to such countries if immigration officials say they have credible diplomatic assurances that the individuals will not face persecution or torture there. Authorities can also provide as little as six hours’ notice before deporting migrants to those destinations.

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