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US judge blocks Trump from fast-tracking deportations to third-party countries
The judge barred the administration from deporting any individual from the United States to a country other than the one designated for removal
A US judge on Friday blocked US President Donald Trump's administration from deporting immigrants to countries other than those that had already been identified during immigration proceedings, reported Reuters.
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Boston district judge Brian Murphy issued a nationwide temporary restraining order that stated that immigrants could not be deported to countries with which they had no existing relationship. The order also said that they should be given a chance to raise claims that they would face persecution or torture if sent to certain countries.
The lawsuit was filed by immigration rights advocates who raised concerns about a recently adopted policy by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) department which sought to fast-track the deportations of thousands of migrants who had been previously released from detention.
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"If your position today is that we don't have to give them any notice, and we can send them to any country other than the country to which the immigration court has said no, that's a very surprising thing to hear the government say," he said.
The judge also noted that under the country's convention against torture, migrants were afforded certain protections against being sent to countries where they faced a likelihood of torture.
"We're relieved the judge saw the urgency of this situation both for our named plaintiffs and other similarly situated individuals," said Trina Realmuto, a lawyer for the migrants at the National Immigration Litigation Alliance.
The next hearing in the case will be on April 10.
Donald Trump's deportation policy
After taking office in January 20, Donald Trump had come to agreements with Mexico and other Central American countries to take in immigrants from other countries.
Earlier this month, he also invoked a war-time law to send Venezuelan gang members to a high-security prison in El Salvador. While this move was blocked by a federal judge, flights to El Salvador continued, carrying more than 200 deportees per trip.
The move is one of many in Trump's crackdown on immigration since taking office.
