US Appeals Court Upholds Restrictions on Trump Administration’s Third-Country Deportations

A US federal appeals court has upheld restrictions on the Trump administration’s policy of deporting undocumented immigrants to third countries rather than sending them back to their countries of origin.

On Friday, a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit largely upheld a lower court ruling that imposed limits on the government’s ability to deport undocumented immigrants to countries other than their own.

The court ruled that people must be given adequate advance notice of the country to which they are being deported. This would allow them an opportunity to inform authorities if they fear persecution or mistreatment in that country and to challenge the deportation decision.

Under US congressional policy, individuals cannot be removed to a country where they could face threats to their lives or be subjected to persecution or torture.

Writing for the unanimous three-judge panel, Judge Seth Aframe said the right to challenge a deportation decision based on the risk of persecution would have meaning only if individuals were informed in advance of the country to which they would be sent and given a meaningful opportunity to raise objections.

Aframe also said that following the policy of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) could deprive a large number of foreign nationals of these protections when they are being sent to a third country without being informed of their destination beforehand.

The Trump administration is expected to consider appealing the ruling to the US Supreme Court, which currently has a conservative majority.

During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump pledged to deport millions of undocumented immigrants from the United States. Since returning to the White House, his administration has introduced a series of measures aimed at accelerating deportation proceedings.

The administration has defended its third-country deportation policy by arguing that some countries of origin sometimes refuse to accept individuals facing removal. Sending them to other countries, officials argue, is therefore necessary in such cases.