A federal judge in Massachusetts on Wednesday struck down the Department of Homeland Security’s policy of removing certain immigrants to “third countries” without giving them meaningful notice or a real chance to object, ruling that the approach violates federal law and due process.
U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy said DHS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement memos issued in March and July 2025 allowed deportations to countries not listed in a person’s final order of removal, without country-specific procedures to raise fears of persecution or torture. In his judgment, Murphy wrote that immigrants covered by the case have a right to meaningful notice and a meaningful opportunity to raise a country-specific claim before being sent to a third country, and he set aside the policy. The ruling is outlined in the court’s decision posted on CourtListener.
Judge Murphy stayed his judgment for up to 15 days to give the government time to ask the 1st Circuit for a longer stay.
The ruling was issued in a class-action lawsuit filed by immigrants who claimed that they were exposed to serious harm because of a policy that allowed them to be deported to a country where they might be persecuted and tortured.
The policy was designed to speed deportations for people whose home countries are difficult to repatriate to by sending them to alternative destinations willing to accept them, a practice that advocates and lawmakers have warned could be used in connection with countries such as Venezuela.
A global media for the latest news, entertainment, music fashion, and more.
