US Judge Blocks Trump’s Expanded Fast-Track Deportation Plan

A federal judge in the United States has halted the Trump administration’s attempt to broaden the use of a fast-track deportation process, dealing a major setback to the former president’s mass deportation agenda.

The procedure, known as “expedited removal,” was originally reserved for migrants apprehended near the Mexican border who had been in the country for less than two weeks. But beginning in January, Donald Trump’s administration extended its reach nationwide, applying it to migrants who had lived in the US for up to two years.

US District Judge Jia Cobb on Friday struck down this expanded application, warning that it risked the wrongful deportation of people without giving them the opportunity to prove they had resided in the US beyond the two-year threshold.

“Unlike the group of people who have traditionally been subject to expedited removal — those detained at or near the border shortly after crossing — the group of people the Government is now subjecting to expedited removal have long since entered our country,” Cobb wrote in a 48-page opinion issued late Friday.

She further criticised the government’s position, stating: “In defending this skimpy process, the Government makes a truly startling argument: that those who entered the country illegally are entitled to no process under the Fifth Amendment, but instead must accept whatever grace Congress affords them. Were that right, not only noncitizens, but everyone would be at risk.”

The ruling came in a case brought by Make The Road New York, a migrant rights group. Cobb, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, clarified that her decision did not challenge the constitutionality of expedited removal itself, nor its traditional use at the border.

Her judgment also cited the US Constitution’s guarantee that “no person shall be removed from the United States without opportunity, at some time, to be heard.”

Trump, who is campaigning to return to the White House, has repeatedly pledged to deport millions of undocumented migrants. However, his efforts have faced repeated judicial pushback, with courts insisting that due process protections cannot be denied.