The Trump administration just scored another major legal victory on immigration. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit reversed a federal judge's block on deporting illegal immigrants to "Safe Third Countries", nations that agreed to accept them, even if those countries aren't the deportees' homelands.
The 2:1 decision means ICE can keep removing illegal immigrants to countries across Africa, Asia, and South America. It strips away yet another judicial roadblock that activists and a lone district judge tried to throw in front of the administration's enforcement agenda.
As Breitbart reported, DOJ attorneys persuaded the First Circuit to block a ruling by Judge Brian E. Murphy of Massachusetts. Murphy's order would have forced the administration to prioritize sending deportees back to their home countries. It also would have required "meaningful notice" before sending anyone to an unfamiliar nation.
The First Circuit said no.
This wasn't the first time courts overruled Judge Murphy. The Supreme Court has twice intervened in the same case, blocking previous Murphy rulings. In July, the justices allowed eight men sent to Djibouti, in violation of a preliminary Murphy order, to continue onward to South Sudan. Two justices also issued a harsh rebuke to one of Murphy's Massachusetts colleagues for failing to heed their orders.
When a district judge gets overruled this many times, it stops looking like a legal disagreement. It starts looking like obstruction.
The First Circuit ruling builds on a pattern of wins for the administration at every level. The New York Post reported that the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to let the administration resume third-country deportations while appeals continue. That decision stayed a lower-court injunction requiring additional procedural protections for deportees.
DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin didn't mince words:
"The SCOTUS ruling is a victory for the safety and security of the American people. DHS can now execute its lawful authority and remove illegal aliens to a country willing to accept them."
The administration's argument is straightforward. Some countries refuse to take back their own citizens. Third-country deportation agreements give ICE another option, and remove a loophole that illegal immigrants exploit to stay in the United States indefinitely.
The Washington Examiner detailed that Solicitor General D. John Sauer told the Supreme Court the lower court had imposed "onerous procedures" that infringed on the president's authority to manage foreign affairs. The Court agreed, voting 6-3 to grant the administration's emergency request.
The Safe Third Country program does more than move people across borders. It changes the incentive structure. Third-country deportations pressure illegal immigrants who tell judges it's unsafe for them to return home. If a deportee claims persecution in Guatemala, the government can send him to a cooperating nation in Africa or Asia instead, removing the asylum dodge entirely.
The program has already enabled the deportation of more than 300 illegal immigrants to countries that signed Safe Third Country agreements. That number will grow now that the First Circuit cleared the path, as we previously reported when the judicial block was first lifted.
Attorney General Pam Bondi celebrated the win. She has reason to. The administration keeps prevailing, in the First Circuit, at the Supreme Court, and even in unanimous rulings where liberal justices joined the majority.
New data cited in reporting on the case suggests nearly 19 million illegal immigrants now live in the United States. That staggering number explains why enforcement tools like third-country deportation aren't optional, they're essential.
The legal wins keep stacking up. Consider the pattern:
This winning streak extends beyond immigration courts. Trump-backed candidates have dominated recent primaries, sweeping races across multiple states. And polling shows most Americans support his bold personnel moves at DHS.
Judge Murphy's record in this case tells its own story. He issued orders blocking deportations. The Supreme Court overruled him, twice. He tried again with new procedural requirements. The First Circuit just shut that down too.
At some point, a reasonable judge reads the room. Murphy hasn't.
The administration argued, and higher courts agreed, that the president holds authority over foreign affairs and immigration enforcement. District judges in Massachusetts don't get to run deportation logistics from the bench.
Every day a rogue judge blocks a lawful deportation, an illegal immigrant stays in the country. Every appeals court win claws back the enforcement power that voters demanded. The law is winning, and so is the country.
