US judge halts Trump plan for rapid deportations to third countries

 

April 18 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge barred the Trump administration from rapidly deporting hundreds if not thousands of migrants to countries other than their own without giving them a chance to show they fear being persecuted, tortured or killed there.

U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy's preliminary injunction on Friday was the latest setback to an immigration crackdown launched by President Donald Trump when he took office on January 20.

The Boston-based judge last month temporarily blocked the administration from fast-tracking deportations, hobbling its ability to remove migrants who in some cases have legal protections preventing them from being sent back to their countries of origin.

The preliminary injunction issued on Friday will keep that order in place until the litigation is resolved. The administration in court filings has already said it plans to appeal Murphy's decision.

When ruling on challenges to government policies, federal judges often issue orders that apply nationwide. Stymied by such decisions, the Trump administration has previously asked the U.S. Supreme Court to narrow nationwide injunctions to cover only those bringing a case.

The decision requires the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to give individuals a "meaningful opportunity" to seek legal relief from deportation before they are sent to third countries.

"The Court has found it likely that these deportations have or will be wrongfully executed and that there has at least been no opportunity for Plaintiffs to demonstrate the substantial harms they might face," wrote Murphy, an appointee of the Republican Trump's Democratic predecessor Joe Biden.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Many of the people deported to third countries are refugees who have been granted protections against returning to their home countries, where they would face persecution or torture, according to Anwen Hughes of Human Rights First, a lawyer for the plaintiffs.

“The protections the court has ordered here are critical to make sure DHS does not turn around and ship them to a third country where they would face the same harms," Hughes said.

In the 2023 fiscal year, 1,769 people subject to final orders of removal were granted limited forms of protection against return to countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened or where they faced a risk of torture.

In February, the Department of Homeland Security instructed immigration officers to review cases of people granted such protections against being removed to their home countries to see if they could be re-detained and sent to a third country.

Immigrant rights groups sued on behalf of a group of migrants seeking to prevent their rapid deportation to newly identified locales.

Judge Murphy voiced concern that without a court order, the administration might carry out deportations in violation of the Convention Against Torture.