A federal judge blocked on Friday, 29, temporarily, the Trump administration of executing rapid deportations of undocumented migrants, detained inside the United States.
The measure is a setback for the efforts of the Republican administration to expand the use of the federal status of accelerated removal to quickly deport some illegal migrants in the country, without passing the court.
President Donald Trump promised to organize a massive deportation operation during his 2024 campaign if voters reappointed him to the White House. And he set the goal of performing a million deportations a year in his second term.
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But US District Judge Jia Cobb in Washington DC suggested that the expanded use of the accelerated removal of migrants by Trump administration is trampling the rights of due process of individuals.
In defense of this insufficient process, the government uses a surprising argument: “Immigrants who entered the country illegally have no right to any process under the fifth amendment, but they must accept any grace that Congress grants them,” Cobb wrote in an opinion of 48 pages issued on Friday night, 29. “If that were correct, not only the non-citizens, but all would be at risk.”
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The internal security department announced in January, shortly after Trump took office, that it was expanding the use of accelerated removal, the rapid deportation of illegal migrants in the US for less than two years.
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The effort triggered lawsuits by the US Union for civil liberties and immigrant rights groups.
Prior to the drive of Trump administration to expand such rapid deportations, accelerated removal was only used for migrants who were intercepted up to 160 kilometers from the border and were in the US for less than 14 days.
Cobb, an nominee from former President Joe Biden, did not question the constitutionality of accelerated removal status or its application on the border.
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She only maintains that, “by applying the law to a huge group of people living in the interior of the country and who were previously not subject to accelerated removal, the government must guarantee them due process of law,” he wrote.
She added that “prioritizing speed over everything will inevitably lead the government to misunderstand people through this truncated process.”
Cobb agreed, earlier this month, to temporarily block Trump’s efforts to expand rapid deportations of immigrants who legally entered the US under a process known as humanitarian parole – a decision that can benefit hundreds of thousands of people.
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In this case, the judge said the internal security department exceeded its statutory authority by trying to expand accelerated removal to many immigrants.
Since May, US Immigration and Customs Control Officers have been positioned in the runners to arrest people after judges accept government requests to give up cases of deportation. After the arrests, the government renews deportation processes, but under rapid authority.
Although accelerated deportations may be suspended upon the asylum request, people may not be aware of this right. And even if they are, they can be quickly removed if they fail in an initial screening.
