Federal judge stops Trump from moving forward with express deportations of illegals
Cobb explained in a 48-page opinion that the U.S. government had acted recklessly in its attempt to quickly deport as many immigrants as possible.
Donald Trump, in the Oval Office
Federal Judge Jia M. Cobb on Friday blocked president Donald Trump's administration from carrying out fast-track deportations of immigrants who had been detained far from the southern border, temporarily halting one of the Republican leader’s key campaign pillars for implementing mass deportations. Cobb, who practices in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, explained in a 48-page opinion that the U.S. government had acted recklessly in its attempt to quickly deport as many immigrants as possible, which likely risked improper detentions and violated due process rights.
The judge explained that the Trump administration had turned a process that once involved deporting migrants with few ties to the country after a single conversation with an immigration officer near the southern border into a common practice now applied even in places like New York. "When it comes to people living in the interior of the country, prioritizing speed over all else will inevitably lead the government to erroneously remove people via this truncated process," Cobb wrote.
"The government government makes a truly startling argument"
The judge particularly highlighted the evolution shown by the current administration's immigration policy over the past few monthss, noting that the Republican administration had chosen to persecute people processing their asylum claims and even police courts, as a product of its race to meet quotas. Finally, Cobb rejected the administration's argument that immigrants who entered the country illegally had waived all of their standard protections, warning that such an argument was so broad that it could eventually result in the detention of U.S. citizens.
"In defending this skimpy process, the government makes a truly startling argument: that those who entered the country illegally are entitled to no process under the Fifth Amendment, but instead must accept whatever grace Congress affords them," the judge wrote.
Swift Deportations
Several media outlets, as well as some human rights organizations, have detailed the existence of several deportations that did not have judicial processes.
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