Overview
- A three-judge First Circuit panel issued an administrative stay of a Feb. 25 district court ruling that had vacated DHS’s third-country removal practice.
- The stay arrived just before the lower court’s order was set to take effect, allowing deportations to continue during the appeal.
- Judge Brian Murphy’s 81-page decision found the process unlawful and said migrants must receive meaningful notice and a reasonable-fear interview before any third-country transfer.
- Justice Department filings argued the district order was unworkable, jeopardizing sensitive negotiations and potentially thousands of planned removals.
- The case, a class action brought by National Immigration Litigation Alliance, Northwest Immigrant Rights Project and Human Rights First, follows prior Supreme Court emergency orders allowing the policy and could return to the high court.