A federal appeals court handed the Trump administration a major victory on Tuesday, clearing the path to rapidly deport immigrants living anywhere in the United States who cannot prove they have resided in the country for two years.
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit voted 2-1 to overturn a lower court's blockade of the expanded deportation authority. The ruling removes a legal barrier that had prevented the Department of Homeland Security from applying its expedited removal process beyond the traditional border enforcement context.
Expedited removal itself is not new. For nearly three decades, immigration authorities have used the procedure to quickly return migrants intercepted at the border without full deportation hearings. The Trump administration expanded that authority in January 2025 to apply to any non-citizen apprehended anywhere in the United States who lacks documentation of continuous residence dating back two years.
Judge Jia Cobb of the US District Court had blocked the expanded policy in August, concluding it violated constitutional protections afforded to migrants encountered in the interior of the country. She reasoned that due process rights required more substantive review before deportation could proceed.
The appeals panel disagreed. Writing for the majority, Circuit Judge Justin Walker, a Trump appointee, found that the administration had the statutory authority to broaden expedited removal and that the process included sufficient safeguards. Migrants placed in expedited removal receive notice of their status and an opportunity to challenge the decision, including by demonstrating their two-year presence in the country, Walker wrote.
Walker stated that the lower court's concerns about the speed and practical limitations of the process misread congressional intent. "At most, the district court's findings show that Congress's expedited screening system operates quickly and with practical constraints, features the statute itself contemplates," he wrote.
Circuit Judge Neomi Rao, also appointed by Trump, largely joined Walker's reasoning. A dissenting opinion from Circuit Judge Robert Wilkins, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, challenged the majority's approach. Wilkins argued that allowing deportation without first questioning migrants about their length of stay "is woefully inadequate for persons encountered in the interior of the country."
The ruling mirrors enforcement tactics the Trump administration employed in 2019 before President Joe Biden took office and rescinded them. The policy's revival prompted immigrant rights organization Make the Road New York to initiate the legal challenge that led to Cobb's initial blockade.
DHS General Counsel James Percival called the decision vindication of the department's legal interpretation. Make the Road's legal team had not issued a public response as of Tuesday afternoon.
Author James Rodriguez: "This ruling signals that courts are increasingly deferential to executive immigration authority, a shift that will reshape how immigration enforcement operates nationwide."
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