Trump effort to expand speedy deportations of migrants can proceed, appeals court rules

By Tierney Sneed, Priscilla Alvarez, CNN

(CNN) — A federal appeals court handed President Donald Trump a significant win in his mass deportation efforts with a ruling Tuesday reviving his administration’s move to speed up deportations of undocumented immigrants in the United States.

The ruling from the US DC Circuit Court of Appeals allows the Trump administration to cast a wider net over who’s subject to the fast-track deportation procedure known as “expedited removal,” which allows immigration authorities to remove an individual from the country without a hearing before an immigration judge.

The decision allows the administration to move forward with its plan to quickly deport undocumented immigrants who are residing in the United States and can’t prove they’ve lived in the country continuously for two years or more.

A trial court had previously blocked the administration’s January 21, 2025, maneuver to expand the policy beyond just migrants who were apprehended within 100 miles of a land border and within 14 days of arrival.

Judges Justin Walker and Neomi Rao – both Trump appointees – sided with the administration. Judge Robert Wilkins – who was put on the bench by President Barack Obama – dissented.

The majority opinion by Walker rejected the challengers’ arguments that the expanded policy violated the Constitution’s right to due process.

The Department of Homeland Security’s General Counsel James Percival celebrated the ruling on X, saying the DC circuit “vindicated” the administration.

“For years, DHS has arbitrarily limited expedited removal to 14 days even though it applies to illegal aliens who entered the country illegally within the last two years. Today, the DC Circuit vindicated our decision to apply the law as written,” Percival said, adding that “it’s not too late” to self deport and received a $2,600 stipend the administration has offered.

“The Trump administration’s push for fast-track deportations will subject people to an unfair and error-prone system. This ruling undermines the fundamental principle that people receive due process when the government seeks to deport them,” said Anand Balakrishnan, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project and lead counsel. “We are exploring next steps.”

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