A federal judge in Massachusetts ruled that the administration’s ‘third country policy’ is illegal, noting that deportees are to receive “meaningful notice” and a chance to challenge their deportation orders.
Last June, the Supreme Court paved the way for the administration to carry out deportations to ‘third countries’ after a separate ruling by the same Massachusetts-based U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy, to halt deportations on the basis that those subject to the administration’s deportation orders should have a “meaningful opportunity” to prove that they would not be at risk of “torture, persecution, or death.”
The U.S. Supreme Court placed Murphy’s ruling on hold, and deportations to third countries quickly resumed.
On Wednesday, Murphy once again ruled against the government’s policy, now ordering that the federal government may not deport people to countries other than their own. Instead, the government may first exhaust efforts to send them to the country stated on their removal orders.
Murphy also ordered that the government provide “meaningful notice” to deportees, allowing them the opportunity for due process and to potentially challenge their deportation orders.
The cases originated after eight undocumented migrants were removed from the United States, destined for South Sudan, but in March 2025, were rerouted to Djibouti in East Africa.
The deported migrants did not have either nation on their removal paperwork.
U.S. District Judge Murphy, who was nominated to the bench by former President Joe Biden, said that DHS’s third-country removal policy has targeted immigrants who were granted protection from being sent back to their home countries.
The Trump administration expects the case to be elevated to the U.S. Supreme Court, where it is confident the administration’s actions will be validated.
