Speed cannot replace justice when liberty is on the line.
A federal judge has reportedly blocked Donald Trump‘s administration from fast-tracking the deportation of the people that has been detained till now, far from the southern border, and it has indeed been a blow to Trump’s mass deportation scheme. It has been ruled on Friday by U.S. District Judge Jia M. Cobb that attempts from the administration to speed up the deportation process create a “significant risk” that can possibly affect the immigrants in a negative way, especially those having legal permission to remain in the U.S.
Judge Jia M. Cobb has been appointed by Joe Biden during his Presidential term, granted a request from Make the Road New York, an advocacy group for immigrants, pausing a couple of policies introduced by Trump in January that made millions more immigrants in the country, eligible for deportation under expedited removal.
It is known that expedited removals are primarily being used for people who get arrested within 100 miles of the southern border, as well as within a 14-day period. The policies introduced by the President in the first week of his second Presidential term sought to expand such removals nationwide. He previously expanded the expedited removals around the country; however, it was rolled back by the then-President Joe Biden
Now, Cobb ruled that Make the Road New York had made a convincing argument that the extended application of the expedited removal doesn’t align with or go with the immigrants’ due process rights. She also said that she isn’t questioning whether expanding expedited removals is constitutional, but has just ruled the government needs to ensure it affords potential deportees due process.
“[The court] merely holds that in applying the statute to a huge group of people living in the interior of the country who have not previously been subject to expedited removal, the Government must afford them due process. The procedures currently in place fall short,” Cobb wrote.
“When it comes to people living in the interior of the country, prioritizing speed over all else will inevitably lead the government to erroneously remove people via this truncated process,” she continued. She also reflected on the people who got affected by this process and said that they – “have a weighty liberty interest in remaining here and therefore must be afforded due process under the Fifth Amendment.”
The judge has henceforth restricted the expedited removal of immigrants with parole status earlier this month, saying that this action was necessary to change the game for people previously authorized to remain.
As per reports, the population of the country, solely considering immigrants, has dropped by 1.4 million between January and July, says the Pew Research Center and this has been combining forced removals and people leaving in fear.
