Federal Judge Rejects Policy of Deporting to Random 3rd Countries
By Reuters | 25 Feb, 2026

District Judge Brian Murphy in Boston struck down a DHS policy allowing 3rd-nation deportations but stayed the order for 15 days to allow time for appeal.

A federal judge on Wednesday ruled that the Trump administration had adopted an unlawful policy that allows for the rapid deportation of migrants to countries other than their own without providing them a chance to object and raise concerns for their safety.

U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy in Boston issued a final ruling declaring the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's policy invalid in a case that the administration expects will ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The policy, which was adopted in March 2025 as part of Republican President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, failed to protect the due process rights of migrants who without notice could be swiftly deported to "an unfamiliar and potentially dangerous country," Murphy said.

Murphy said the administration had argued it would be "fine" for immigration officers under that policy to quickly deport people to so-called third countries they did not come from as long as DHS does not know someone is waiting to kill them upon their arrival.

"It is not fine, nor is it legal," wrote Murphy, who was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden.

DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

DECISION ON HOLD PENDING LIKELY APPEAL 

The judge set aside the policy and declared that migrants who had been subject to it had a right to meaningful notice and a chance to raise objections to being deported to third countries. But he paused his ruling from taking effect for 15 days to allow the administration time to pursue an appeal, citing the case's "importance and its unusual history."

He noted the Supreme Court's earlier interventions in the case. The court previously lifted a preliminary injunction Murphy issued in April protecting the due process rights of migrants facing deportation to third countries and later cleared the way for eight men to be sent to South Sudan.

While it was in effect, that earlier injunction hindered the administration's efforts to send migrants to countries other than their places of origin, including South Sudan, Libya and El Salvador.

Wednesday's ruling came in a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of migrants facing deportation to countries not previously named in their removal orders or identified in their immigration court proceedings.

The policy allows migrants to be deported to such countries if immigration authorities either have credible diplomatic assurances they will not be persecuted or tortured if sent there, or have given the migrants as little as six hours of notice that they are being sent to such a place.

Trina Realmuto, a lawyer for the plaintiffs at the National Immigration Litigation Alliance, called Murphy's ruling "a forceful statement from the court that the administration's third country removal policy is unconstitutional."

"Under the government's policy, people have been forcibly returned to countries where U.S. immigration judges have found they will be persecuted or tortured," Realmuto said in a statement.

Department of Justice lawyers had argued the policy satisfied immigration law requirements and due process standards and was essential for deporting migrants whose home countries refused them due to crimes they committed.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi, Nia Williams and Bill Berkrot)