Biden judge overruled on key Trump immigration policy

By Fox News · Fox News

The Trump administration scored a major immigration win Monday after a federal appeals court revived its nationwide expedited removal policy, clearing the way for the Department of Homeland Security to resume fast-track deportations of eligible illegal immigrants. The ruling allows federal immigration authorities to quickly remove certain migrants found anywhere in the country if they were not lawfully admitted or paroled into the U.S. and cannot show they have continuously lived in the country for at least two years. In a 2-1 ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated a lower court order that had blocked the policy, concluding that challengers were unlikely to succeed on their claims that the expansion violates constitutional due process protections. "DHS thereby exercised its discretion to apply its expedited-removal authority to the maximum extent allowed by law," Judge Justin Walker wrote for the court. TRUMP'S ICE LAUNCHES BOLD COURTHOUSE MIGRANT ARREST STRATEGY TO FAST-TRACK DEPORTATIONS BIDEN AVOIDED DHS praised the ruling. "For years, DHS has arbitrarily limited expedited removal to 14 days even though it applies to illegal aliens who entered the country illegally within the last two years," DHS General Counsel James Percival said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "Today, the D.C. Circuit vindicated our decision to apply the law as written. It's not too late to take a $2,600 check and a free flight home!" The ruling reverses a nationwide stay issued by U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb, a Biden appointee , who found the policy created a significant risk that individuals could be wrongly deported before having a meaningful opportunity to prove they were exempt from expedited removal. The Trump administration first expanded expedited removal nationwide during Trump's first term in 2019 . The Biden administration later rescinded the policy before DHS reinstated it shortly after Trump returned to office in January 2025. The majo…