Appeals Court Lifts Block on Nationwide Expedited Removals

A federal appeals court on Tuesday permitted the Trump administration to expand expedited removal of non-citizens to locations throughout the United States. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled 2-1 to overturn an August 2025 order by D.C.

District Judge Jia Cobb that had blocked the Department of Homeland Security from applying the process beyond the border. The decision lifts the nationwide injunction and allows the administration to proceed. ” Circuit Judge Neomi Rao joined the opinion in large part.

The opinion noted that migrants receive notice and an opportunity to show they have been present for two years. Circuit Judge Robert Wilkins dissented, arguing that the procedure is “woefully inadequate for persons encountered in the interior of the country” because migrants are not asked how long they have lived in the United States.

Expedited removal has been used for nearly three decades to quickly return migrants caught at the border.

In January 2025 the administration broadened the process to cover non-citizens apprehended anywhere in the country who cannot prove they have lived in the United States for two continuous years. The expansion mirrors a 2019 policy later rescinded by the prior administration.

Immigrant rights groups challenged the new scope, arguing it violates due-process protections for people far from the border.