A federal judge has ruled a Trump administration policy that allows the Department of Homeland Security to deport migrants to “third countries” that are not their own, without first giving them notice or the opportunity to challenge the order, is unconstitutional.
U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy in Massachusetts ruled in favor of a group of noncitizens who filed a class-action lawsuit in Boston. They challenged DHS’s process of deporting people to so-called “third countries” that were not previously designated in their removal orders.
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“This case is about whether the Government may, without notice, deport a person to the wrong country, or a country where he is likely to be persecuted, or tortured, thereby depriving that person of the opportunity to seek protections to which he would be undisputedly entitled,” Murphy wrote in his ruling Wednesday.
The Trump administration argued that certain migrants living in the U.S. illegally are not entitled to due process. However, Murphy said the Fifth Amendment applies to all “persons” in the U.S., regardless of their immigration status.
Murphy’s new ruling does not take effect for 15 days, giving the Trump administration time to appeal.
Murphy previously ruled last year that the government’s efforts to deport migrants to third-party countries without due process “unquestionably” violated the Constitution. However, in June, the Supreme Court paused that decision, granting an emergency appeal by the Trump administration without explaining why.
The court’s three liberal justices, Sonia Sotomayor, Ketanji Brown Jackson and Elena Kagan, all dissented.
