WASHINGTON, United States — A US federal appeals court on Friday, September 18, 2026, broadly upheld a lower court ruling that restricts the Donald Trump administration from deporting undocumented migrants to third countries without prior notification.
Okay News reports that the unanimous three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruled that individuals facing third-country removals must receive effective advance notice of their destination to allow them to raise concerns regarding potential persecution.
Writing for the panel, Judge Seth Aframe stated that the policy operated by the Department of Homeland Security threatens protections guaranteed to noncitizens.
“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,” Aframe said in the ruling.
Aframe said the Department of Homeland Security policy “would deny access to that protection to a substantial swath of noncitizens who are sent to third countries with no notice of their destination.”
The decision enforces existing federal statutory policy established by Congress, which prohibits the deportation of individuals to nations where they face potential torture or threats to their lives.
The ruling restricts deportation practices implemented by Trump following his return to the White House, where his administration has defended third-country removals on the grounds that certain origin nations refuse to accept returned citizens.
The Trump administration is expected to appeal the panel’s decision to the Supreme Court.
