Overview

• U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb in Washington, D.C., issued a 48-page order on Aug. 29 halting DHS’s January policy that extended expedited removal nationwide to people unable to show two years’ presence in the U.S.
• She found the broadened use in the interior creates a significant risk of wrongful removals and ruled that those targeted have a weighty liberty interest that requires due process.
• The order also pauses use of expedited removal against immigrants granted humanitarian parole, without questioning the statute’s constitutionality at the border.
• Cobb denied a Justice Department request for a two-week stay, and DHS criticized the decision and is expected to seek relief from higher courts.
• The lawsuit was brought by Make the Road New York with ACLU counsel, and filings detailed ICE tactics such as courthouse arrests and dismissal-then-arrest maneuvers feeding people into fast-track removals.