• A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration's expansion of expedited deportations.
• The ruling cites concerns over due process for undocumented migrants.
• The expedited removal process previously applied only to recent border crossers.
• The judge emphasized that prioritizing speed risks wrongful deportations.
• This decision is a significant setback for Trump's immigration agenda.

A federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration's efforts to expand the fast-track deportation process known as expedited removal, ruling that it violates the due process rights of migrants. U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb's decision halts the implementation of a January directive that expanded the removal process to cover undocumented migrants throughout the entire U.S., contrary to the previous restriction to border areas, according to CBS News and Reuters.

The expedited removal process allows for quick deportations without judicial oversight for migrants detained within certain criteria. Cobb asserted that the administration's application of the policy "tramples" on individuals' due process rights, stating, "In defending this skimpy process, the Government makes a truly startling argument: those who entered the country illegally are entitled to no process under the Fifth Amendment," reported Los Angeles Times and The Times of India.

This ruling marks a significant setback for Trump's immigration policy ambitions, which included a goal of deporting up to 1 million undocumented immigrants annually if re-elected. The Department of Homeland Security had recently expanded the expedited removal to cover individuals who have lived in the U.S. for up to two years, whereas previously, the process applied only to those apprehended close to the border and who had been in the country for less than 14 days, according to HuffPost and South China Morning Post.

Cobb, who was appointed by Biden, noted the ruling is not a challenge to the constitutionality of expedited removal in its traditional border context but emphasizes that expanding it to a larger group of individuals necessitates due process protections. She warned that "prioritizing speed over all else will inevitably lead the Government to erroneously remove people via this truncated process," as detailed by NPR and The Hill.

The federal ruling comes amid various lawsuits challenging the Trump administration's immigrant policies, including those posed by the American Civil Liberties Union and other advocacy groups. Several arrests have reportedly already occurred under the newly expanded expedited removal process, where migrants were detained in court hallways, raising alarm over the potential for wrongful deportations as many migrants remain unaware of their rights to seek asylum, indicating an urgent need for legal clarity and protections, according to Le Monde and HuffPost.