U.S. appeals court rejects Trump policy allowing swift deportations to third countries

A U.S. federal appeals court rejected on ​Friday (September 18, 2026) a policy adopted by President Donald Trump’s administration that allows authorities to ⁠rapidly deport migrants to countries other than their own without giving them a chance to raise safety concerns.

Ruling in a case that is likely headed to the Supreme Court, a three-judge panel of the Boston-based 1st ‌U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals largely upheld a February decision by a lower-court judge that declared the Department of Homeland Security’s policy unlawful.

The ruling came in a class-action ‌lawsuit filed by migrants subject to deportation orders that has become a key test ‌of ⁠what due process protections the government must provide before removing people to countries with which ⁠they have no connection.