The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit granted the Trump administration an administrative stay on Wednesday, pausing a lower court order that had blocked its third-country deportation policy just hours before it was set to take effect.

U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy, a Biden appointee in Boston, ruled on February 25 that the policy violated due process protections by failing to provide migrants with adequate notice and opportunities to challenge deportations to countries other than their own. In an 81-page decision, Murphy criticized the lack of transparency regarding assurances from third countries that deportees would not face harm, calling the process unlawful.

The policy, implemented by the Department of Homeland Security after the Supreme Court's stay in 2025, targets migrants with final removal orders whose home countries refuse repatriation, often criminals, including murderers and drug traffickers. It allows deportations to nations like South Sudan, El Salvador, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and others that have agreed to accept them, based on diplomatic assurances.

Department of Justice lawyers argued that Murphy's nationwide injunction would disrupt thousands of planned removals and sensitive diplomatic negotiations, contradicting two prior Supreme Court emergency rulings that upheld the policy. The high court issued a 6-3 stay in June 2025 and a 7-2 order rebuking enforcement attempts against specific detainees headed to South Sudan.

The ruling represents a short-term victory for the administration's immigration enforcement amid ongoing litigation.