The World Ambassador

TWA

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A U.S. federal judge has blocked a Trump administration policy aimed at accelerating the deportation of migrants arrested inside the United States, calling it a violation of constitutional due process rights.

Judge Jia Cobb of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., wrote in her ruling that the migrants targeted by this policy have been living in the country for an extended period and therefore possess “a significant liberty interest” in staying, which requires proper legal process under the Fifth Amendment.

According to CNN The expedited removal expansion was introduced early in former President Donald Trump’s second term, extending Department of Homeland Security rules that previously applied only to migrants detained within 100 miles of the U.S. border who had been in the country for fewer than two weeks.

Judge Cobb criticized the administration’s stance that migrants who entered illegally are not entitled to any due process rights, calling it “a truly startling argument” that could endanger both noncitizens and U.S. citizens alike.

Make the Road New York, an immigrant advocacy organization that challenged the policy, argued in court that the rule was already being used to detain and deport individuals without hearings — even those appearing in immigration court to comply with the law.

Government lawyers defended the measure as a lawful exercise of executive power intended to streamline enforcement and reduce court backlogs. Cobb’s decision clarified that while expedited removals are constitutional at the border, applying them to people living inside the U.S. without due process violates the law.

Earlier this month, Cobb also paused enforcement of another Trump-era rule seeking to fast-track the deportation of migrants who entered the U.S. legally through humanitarian parole programs.