The panel of judges reversed an earlier ruling that found the expedited takedown violated the constitutional right to due process.
Published June 23, 2026
A U.S. appeals court has said President Donald Trump’s administration can move forward with a process to expedite the deportation of immigrants living in the country.
A majority of a three-member panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit passed a resolution Tuesday overturning a lower court ruling that blocked the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from expanding expedited removal eligibility.
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The ruling is a victory for the Trump administration’s efforts to curtail due process rights for immigrants as it pursues mass deportation policies.
Previously, expedited removal was used on a more limited basis to quickly turn back immigrants apprehended at the U.S. border.
But the Trump administration is seeking to extend the process to noncitizens detained elsewhere in the United States unless they can prove they have been in the country for more than two years.
The initiative has been opposed by rights groups who say it violates due process rights because it does not give noncitizens the right to petition for deportation.
Due process is established as part of the U.S. Constitution and applies to everyone in the country, regardless of citizenship.
Tuesday’s lawsuit was filed by the immigrant rights group Make the Road New York.
In August, the case went to U.S. District Judge Gia Cobb, who ruled that the policy violated due process rights. He also pointed out that expedited removal procedures risk making mistakes and resulting in the deportation of people who should not be deported.
“When it comes to people living in the interior, prioritizing speed above all else will inevitably lead the government to mistakenly exclude people through this truncated process,” Cobb wrote in an Aug. 25 opinion.
An appeals court reversed that decision, with Judge Justin Walker, a Trump appointee, writing that the administration could “expedite removal to the fullest extent authorized by Congress.”
