A judge struck down a Trump administration policy to deport immigrants to countries where they had never been before.
In a decision dripping with sarcasm, U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy found the third-party removal policy was unlawful and gave the government 15 days to respond before his ban on the practice goes into effect.
"The Department of Homeland Security has adopted a policy whereby it may take people and drop them off in parts unknown — in so-called 'third countries' — and, 'as long as the Department doesn’t already know that there’s someone standing there waiting to shoot . . . that’s fine,'" Murphy wrote, referencing a previous statement by a government attorney.
“It is not fine, nor is it legal," the judge added.
The ruling by Murphy, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, was part of a class action lawsuit challenging a Department of Homeland Security policy permitting the rapid deportation to third countries of migrants subject to final orders of removal issued by immigration judges.
