President Donald Trump suffered a setback to his immigration agenda after a U.S. federal court struck down a policy allowing authorities to deport migrants to countries other than their nations of origin.
In a ruling issued on Wednesday, February 25, U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy in Boston found that the policy by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was unlawful because it failed to give migrants a genuine chance to express fears of persecution or torture in the countries where authorities could send them.
The judge declared the policy invalid, saying deportations to so-called third countries could not proceed without adequate legal safeguards.
However, he suspended the implementation of the decision for 15 days to allow the administration time to file an appeal, noting the significance of the case and its complex legal background.
The dispute is widely expected to end up before the U.S. Supreme Court, which has already intervened twice in earlier stages of the case.
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Previously, the court lifted a preliminary injunction issued in April that sought to protect the due process rights of migrants facing deportation to third countries. In a separate decision, the justices also allowed eight migrants to be deported to South Sudan.
While the earlier injunction was in force, the administration’s plans to deport migrants to alternative destinations — including South Sudan, Libya, and El Salvador — were significantly constrained.
DHS has faced a partial shutdown because of ongoing talks between the White House and Congressional Democrats about immigration reforms after last month’s fatal federal shootings in Minnesota.
Deportations
Agencies like U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are expected to keep operating, using existing funding from the Trump administration’s “big, beautiful bill.”
DHS data released on January 20, 2026, shows that nearly three million illegal immigrants left the U.S. during Trump’s first year, including over 675,000 formal deportations and about 2.2 million self-deportations.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said there have been big drops in border incidents and drug trafficking.
“In the last year, fentanyl trafficking at the southern border has also been cut by more than half compared to the same period in 2024,” she said.
“The U.S. Coast Guard alone seized enough cocaine to kill more than 177 million Americans.”
The administration also reported record-low numbers of U.S. Border Patrol encounters, saying the daily average at the southwest border has dropped to 251, down from 5,110 under the previous administration.
USCIS has also put stricter enforcement measures in place and improved how it operates. In its first year, DHS said the agency carried out its largest enforcement operation so far, called Operation Twin Shield, which focused on finding fraud and checking eligibility.
“Under an updated policy confirming USCIS’ role as an immigration enforcement agency, agency officers are once again empowered to enforce immigration law by issuing Notices to Appear. So far, they have done so in historic numbers. Since January 20, USCIS officers have issued approximately 196,600 Notices to Appear to place aliens in removal proceedings,” DHS states.
Trump speaks about border security during SOTU address
During his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, President Trump kept his immigration remarks sharply focused on criminals and border security and not the aggressive deportation campaign that has sparked broad backlash.
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He highlighted Dalilah Coleman, a 5-year-old who was injured after being hit by an unauthorized immigrant driving an 18-wheeler. The mother of Lizbeth Medina, who was murdered in 2023 by an unauthorized immigrant, was also in the audience.
“Her heartbroken mother is in the gallery to remind everyone in this chamber exactly why we are deporting illegal alien criminals from our country at record numbers, and we’re getting them the hell out of here fast,” Trump said.
His administration has faced significant backlash in the wake of the Minneapolis surge, during which two American citizens were killed by federal agents, forcing a rare retreat from the White House.
Republicans in recent months have warned the president that his immigration agenda has gone too far and risks isolating crucial supporters this fall, including Hispanic voters.
They have urged Trump to instead focus on targeted enforcement and the “worst of the worst” criminals.
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