A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday, June 24, that the Trump administration can resume carrying out expedited deportations of undocumented migrants anywhere in the United States — not just in counties and cities that sit near the border.
The ruling lifts a restriction that had confined so-called speedy deportations to border regions. Expedited removal allows immigration authorities to deport certain undocumented migrants without a full hearing before an immigration judge, a process that can take months or years to complete.
Expanding that authority nationwide means immigration enforcement agencies can now apply the fast-track process to undocumented individuals apprehended deep inside the country. The appeals court didn’t specify a geographic limit in its order.
Civil liberties groups and immigration attorneys had challenged the expansion, arguing it stripped migrants of due process protections and created conditions where people — including some with legal status — could be removed from the country before errors could be caught. Whether any further legal challenges are pending is unclear.
