A US Federals Court has ruled that immigrants facing deportation to third countries must be given sufficient notice before being sent to nations where they have no ties.
“An individual’s right to contest removal to a country based on a fear of persecution in that country means little if one does not receive prior notice of the intended removal destination and a meaningful opportunity to contest that destination,” Circuit Judge Seth Aframe wrote in the ruling. A US federal appeals court has ruled that immigrants facing deportation to countries where they have no ties must receive sufficient notice and a meaningful opportunity to challenge their removal before being sent there. A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit unanimously struck down a Department of Homeland Security policy that allowed the administration to deport immigrants to so-called third countries with little or no advance notice.
The Washington Post reported that the court found the government had not adequately shown which countries had provided the diplomatic assurances relied upon by the administration. A third-country deportation involves removing an immigrant to a country that is neither their country of citizenship nor necessarily a country where they have family or other ties. But the lawsuit challenging the policy argued that migrants were sometimes given little or no opportunity to object before being put on flights to countries where they could face persecution or other serious harm. The appeals court agreed that prior notice and an opportunity to challenge the destination were required.