(Washington) A federal appeals court on Monday reauthorized until further notice the policy adopted by the Trump administration of deporting illegal immigrants to third countries.
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In a brief ruling, the appeals court suspends the decision rendered on February 25 by a federal judge in Boston, Brian Murphy.
The court of appeal makes a provisional ruling and specifies that it will rule on the merits after hearing the written arguments of both parties and then setting a hearing date in the coming weeks.
The issue is whether “the government can, without notice, deport a person to the wrong country, or a country where they will likely be persecuted or tortured,” explained Judge Murphy in his decision.
In this case, this magistrate had already notably temporarily blocked in March 2025 the expulsions of foreigners of Asian origin to Libya.
In April, he also suspended the expulsion of other foreigners to South Sudan, considering that people targeted by expulsion to a country other than their own should be notified, then given a significant period of time to file an appeal on the basis of the United Nations Convention against Torture.
This time ruling on the merits, Judge Murphy concluded that the new directives issued in March by the Department of Homeland Security regarding expulsions to third countries were “illegal”.
According to these guidelines, these expulsions are authorized only on the condition that the country in question provides guarantees that those expelled “will not be persecuted or tortured” and that the State Department considers these guarantees “credible”, without any possible recourse.
President Donald Trump has made the fight against illegal immigration a top priority, speaking of an “invasion” of the United States by “criminals from abroad” and communicating extensively on expulsions of immigrants.
But its program of mass expulsions has been thwarted or slowed down by multiple court decisions, including from the predominantly conservative Supreme Court, on the grounds that those targeted should be able to assert their rights.
