BREAKING: Federal Judge Blocks Trump’s Fast-Track Deportations of Parolees
A new ruling halts DHS from using expedited removal against migrants admitted under Biden’s parole program, marking a rare judicial curb on executive immigration power.
WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Washington, D.C., issued a groundbreaking ruling Friday, barring the Department of Homeland Security from using expedited removal to deport immigrants admitted under humanitarian parole, ensuring their right to a court hearing. The decision, handed down by U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb, stems from a lawsuit filed by the Coalition for Immigrant Rights against Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.
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The ruling prohibits the Trump administration from employing a controversial tactic that involved detaining immigrants outside court appearances or check-ins and placing them into a swift deportation process known as expedited removal. This process, expanded under the Immigration and Nationality Act in 1996 and broadened in 2004 to cover those within 100 miles of the border, had been a focus of recent enforcement efforts, according to a 2025 American Immigration Council report.
The case specifically protects individuals from Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Cuba who entered the U.S. legally through a Biden administration humanitarian parole program launched in January 2023. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services data indicates over 500,000 approvals under the program by mid-2025, offering two-year stays to those with sponsors and clean background checks.
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“This is a rare judicial check on executive immigration authority,” said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a policy analyst, in a post on X. The decision could disrupt DHS strategies, particularly courthouse and check-in arrests, though its long-term impact on detention rates remains unstudied, with critics on X, like user ScottG., suggesting the administration might respond by canceling paroles.
Judge Cobb, a Biden appointee, argued that the expansion of expedited removal against parolees exceeded legal authority and was arbitrary, especially given the White House’s push for 3,000 daily arrests to meet a goal of 1 million annual deportations. The ruling marks a significant moment as immigration debates intensify, with the full opinion available online.
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