Federal Court Rules Against Trump Deportations of people to Countries unknown to them

While previous administrations rarely used third-country deportations, they also typically notified ICE detainees where they were being sent and gave them a chance to seek protections based on fear of torture or persecution. But the Trump administration concluded that little — if any — notice was required, so long as the receiving countries offered blanket assurances that they would not torture or persecute those deported from the U.S.

“An individual’s right to contest removal to a country based on a fear of persecution in that country means little if one does not receive prior notice of the intended removal destination and a meaningful opportunity to contest that destination,” Judge Seth Aframe wrote for the unanimous panel of the Boston-based 1st Circuit Court of Appeals.

“The statute and regulations prescribe hearing-related procedures for fear-of-persecution claims with no exception for third-country removals,” added Aframe, a Biden appointee. “We reject DHS’s efforts to create such an exception from whole cloth.”

Aframe’s decision was joined by Judge Lara Montecalvo, another Biden appointee, and by Judge Jeffrey Howard, a George W. Bush appointee.

Spokespeople for the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A spokesperson for the immigrant rights advocates behind the case hailed the appeals court’s decision.

“For over a year, class members have lived under the threat of being sent to countries they had never been told they could be removed to, with little or no notice and without a meaningful opportunity to explain the dangers awaiting them there. Many have been deported to horrendous situations and danger under this policy,” said Trina Realmuto, a spokesperson for the National Immigration Litigation Alliance.

Realmuto lauded the appeals court for recognizing “that fundamental fairness and the law requires meaningful notice and an opportunity to raise protection claims before any third country removal.”….

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