Judge rules Trump administration's policy for "third-country" deportations is unlawful

"Under the policy issued last March and reaffirmed last July, immigration officers did not need to give notice or an opportunity for migrants to contest their removal to third countries, so long as the government had received word from that country that deportees would not be persecuted or tortured."

"The policy allowed for migrants to challenge their removal, but only in cases where they 'affirmatively' state a fear. Immigration officers, the policy said, 'will not affirmatively ask whether the alien is afraid of being removed to that country.'"

"As part of President Trump's immigration agenda and mass deportation campaign, his administration had approached nations like Costa Rica, Panama and Rwanda about accepting migrants who are not their citizens."

A federal judge in Massachusetts ruled that the Department of Homeland Security's third-country removal policy is unlawful. The policy, issued under the Trump administration, allowed immigration officers to deport migrants to countries other than their own without providing notice or an opportunity to contest the removal. Migrants could only challenge removal if they affirmatively stated fear of persecution or torture, but officers were not required to ask about such fears. The judge sided with noncitizens in a class-action lawsuit, determining the policy violates federal immigration law. The Trump administration was given 15 days to appeal the ruling.

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