Wednesday, June 24, 2026 - A federal appeals court handed US President Donald Trump a significant victory in his mass deportation efforts with a ruling on Tuesday, June 23, 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 is subject to the fast-track
deportation procedure known as “expedited removal.” This mechanism 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 residing in the United
States who cannot prove they have 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 its prior limits, which
restricted the process to migrants apprehended within 100 miles of a land
border and within 14 days of arrival.
Judges Justin Walker and Neomi Rao sided with the
administration in the decision. Judge Robert Wilkins dissented from the
majority.
The majority opinion 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 publicly, stating that the DC Circuit
vindicated the administration's decision to apply the law as written. He noted
that the department had previously limited expedited removal to 14 days despite
statutory allowance for individuals who entered the country illegally within
the last two years.
He added a reminder regarding the administration's active
self-deportation program, which offers a 2,600 dollar stipend for voluntary
departures.
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