Judge blocks Trump's broad expansion of rapid deportations: WaPo

Judge blocks Trump's broad expansion of rapid deportations: WaPo

A federal judge has dealt a significant blow to the Trump administration's efforts to expand rapid deportations across the United States. U.S. District Judge Jia M. Cobb, a Biden appointee, ruled on August 29, 2025, that the administration's policy, which made millions more immigrants eligible for expedited removal, violated due process rights [1].

The expedited removal process, which allows federal immigration officials to quickly deport certain migrants without allowing them to see an immigration judge, was previously limited to foreigners intercepted within 100 miles of a U.S. land border and within two weeks of entering the U.S. However, in 2019, during President Donald Trump's first term, the policy was expanded to apply anywhere in the U.S. and to any unauthorized immigrant who cannot show they have been in the country for more than two years [2].

The Biden administration rolled back the policy, but Trump reinstated it when he returned to office in January. Cobb's ruling, which takes effect immediately, blocks the Trump administration from applying the expedited removal process to millions of immigrants living in the interior of the country who have not previously been subject to the policy [1].

Cobb argued that the Trump administration's expansion of expedited removal created a significant risk that immigrants who may be entitled to stay in the U.S. would be hustled out of the country without proper due process. She noted that the urgency of the need for relief was underscored by the Trump administration's adoption of a new tactic that dismisses immigrants' ordinary immigration court proceedings at a hearing and then arrests them for fast-track deportation [1].

The ruling is a major setback for the Trump administration's mass deportation efforts, including its campaign to arrest asylum-seekers at immigration courthouses across the U.S. [2]. Cobb's decision is likely to be appealed, but it is a significant victory for immigrant advocacy groups who have been challenging the legality of the nationwide expansion of expedited removal [2].

References:
[1] https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/29/trump-deportation-expedited-judge-00538077
[2] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/judge-blocks-trump-fast-track-deportations-due-process/