A U.S. district judge in Boston has ruled that Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s practice of deporting non-citizens to countries where they are *not* nationals – sometimes with as little as six hours’ notice – violates due-process guarantees. The 81-page decision, issued late on February 25, invalidates a 2025 ICE memo that dramatically expanded so-called “third-country removals.”
Judge Brian E. Murphy found the policy provided “no meaningful opportunity” for migrants to contest removal to places where they risk persecution or torture. While the Supreme Court had previously allowed the policy to continue during litigation, Murphy’s final merits ruling stays in force unless overturned on appeal; he gave DHS 15 days to seek a stay.
The decision throws a wrench into the Trump administration’s mass-deportation strategy and could snarl flights contracted to move thousands of migrants each month. Airlines performing ICE charters, along with logistics firms at airports in Miami, Houston and Phoenix, may face schedule disruptions and contractual uncertainty.
![Federal judge strikes down ‘third-country’ deportation policy as unconstitutional]()
Amid such turbulence, VisaHQ can help travelers, employers and immigration counsel quickly determine visa requirements or obtain emergency travel documents. Through its U.S. portal (https://www.visahq.com/united-states/), the firm offers real-time updates, electronic filing and courier services—tools that become indispensable when removal rules or flight schedules change on short notice.
Corporate mobility managers also see ripple effects: the policy had occasionally ensnared long-term business travelers whose home countries refused re-entry documents. With the ruling, lawyers expect DHS to revert to bilateral negotiations and lengthier removal proceedings, potentially filling already crowded detention centers and slowing other immigration adjudications.
Should the administration appeal – widely expected – the case could return to the Supreme Court by summer, keeping global-mobility teams on alert for rapid rule changes.
Judge Brian E. Murphy found the policy provided “no meaningful opportunity” for migrants to contest removal to places where they risk persecution or torture. While the Supreme Court had previously allowed the policy to continue during litigation, Murphy’s final merits ruling stays in force unless overturned on appeal; he gave DHS 15 days to seek a stay.
The decision throws a wrench into the Trump administration’s mass-deportation strategy and could snarl flights contracted to move thousands of migrants each month. Airlines performing ICE charters, along with logistics firms at airports in Miami, Houston and Phoenix, may face schedule disruptions and contractual uncertainty.
Amid such turbulence, VisaHQ can help travelers, employers and immigration counsel quickly determine visa requirements or obtain emergency travel documents. Through its U.S. portal (https://www.visahq.com/united-states/), the firm offers real-time updates, electronic filing and courier services—tools that become indispensable when removal rules or flight schedules change on short notice.
Corporate mobility managers also see ripple effects: the policy had occasionally ensnared long-term business travelers whose home countries refused re-entry documents. With the ruling, lawyers expect DHS to revert to bilateral negotiations and lengthier removal proceedings, potentially filling already crowded detention centers and slowing other immigration adjudications.
Should the administration appeal – widely expected – the case could return to the Supreme Court by summer, keeping global-mobility teams on alert for rapid rule changes.
