US court blocks Trump plan to deport migrants to third countries
Sep 20, 2026
Washington [US], September 20: A US federal appeals court has rejected the Trump administration's policy of rapidly deporting migrants to countries other than their own - a ruling that could next go before the Supreme Court.
On Friday, a three-judge panel of the 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston largely upheld a February decision that found the Department of Homeland Security's so-called third-country removal policy unlawful. The case stems from a class-action lawsuit testing what due process migrants are owed before being sent to nations with which they have no ties.
Under Trump, the US has struck agreements allowing it to send more than 25,000 migrants to at least 29 third countries, most often Mexico, according to Third Country Deportation Watch, a tracker run by the rights groups Refugees International and Human Rights First.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Cooperation
