August 30, 2025
Court halts Trump administration's interior deportation expansion
Federal judge blocks fast-track removal without hearings
🛂Immigration📜Constitutional Law⚖️Justice
U.S.
District Judge Jia Cobb ruled on Aug.
29, 2025, that the Trump administration's expansion of expedited removal violates migrants' due process rights.
She temporarily blocked fast-track deportations of migrants encountered or apprehended anywhere in the U.S.
who cannot show continuous presence of two years.
The ruling halts a January 2025 directive issued Jan.
20–23, 2025 that expanded the policy from border-only enforcement to nationwide application.
The directive had aimed to apply expedited removal inland and could affect millions of undocumented migrants nationwide.
U.S. District Judge Jia M. Cobb issued a preliminary injunction on Aug. 29, 2025. She sits on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Cobb found the government likely violated migrants' Fifth Amendment due process rights by expanding expedited removal.
The Jan. 2025 policy from the Department of Homeland Security expanded expedited removal to noncitizens encountered anywhere in the United States if they can't prove at least two years' continuous presence. Under the rule, many people could be processed for deportation without seeing an immigration judge. Advocates and some reports say the change would expose millions of migrants to fast-track expulsions.
Immigrant-rights groups, including Make the Road New York and the American Civil Liberties Union, sued to block the policy. They documented cases where ICE agents arrested asylum seekers in or near immigration courts and then sought rapid expulsions under expedited removal. The plaintiffs argued those practices showed a high risk of deporting people without meaningful hearings.
The injunction pauses the policy's interior application nationwide while the lawsuit proceeds. The Justice Department said it will appeal the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and may seek emergency relief. The ruling protects migrants now, but the policy could resume if higher courts rule for the government.
🛂Immigration📜Constitutional Law⚖️Justice
People, bills, and sources
Jia M. Cobb
U.S. District Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
Make the Road New York; American Civil Liberties Union; Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights
Plaintiffs and immigrant-rights advocates
Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Federal agencies that design and enforce immigration policy
Donald J. Trump
President of the United States
U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
Federal appellate court
What You Can Do
1
civic action
Call your U.S. senators and representative at 202-224-3121 and urge them to defend due process for migrants.
Judge Jia Cobb issued a preliminary injunction on Aug. 30, 2025, temporarily blocking expedited removal nationwide, and the government is expected to appeal to the D.C. Circuit.
Hello, my name is [your name]. I’m asking Senator/Representative [name] to oppose any effort to strip due process from migrants and to support oversight of DHS after the Aug. 30, 2025 injunction.
2
civic action
Donate or volunteer with the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project or the National Immigration Law Center to support litigation and representation.
These groups are representing plaintiffs and helping people who were encountered or apprehended and who can't show two years' continuous presence after the court blocked the expansion.
Hi, I’d like to donate or volunteer to support legal challenges to the expedited removal expansion and to help migrants affected by the Aug. 30, 2025 court order.
3
practicing
Sign up with the American Immigration Lawyers Association or local legal aid to observe hearings and offer pro bono help.
The injunction is temporary and likely to be appealed, so observers and pro bono attorneys can document enforcement and help people at risk of expedited removal.
Hello, I want to volunteer as a pro bono attorney or court observer in expedited removal cases and to be notified about hearings related to the Aug. 30, 2025 injunction.