Lawsuit Challenges Expedited Removal Immigration Policy in Federal Court

Lawyers for Civil Rights and Ropes & Gray filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging the Trump Administration’s plan to implement an aggressive “expedited removal” plan – a process that allows low-level immigration officers to short-circuit normal immigration procedures and deport individuals without counsel and oversight by an immigration judge.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Centro Presente and the Pioneer Valley Worker Center, two membership organizations with thousands of affected members, as well as a number of individuals who are now subject to expedited removal under the government’s new policy.  It seeks to stop the expansion of expedited removal, which has traditionally been limited primarily to immigrants who just crossed the border and were apprehended close to it.  The rule being challenged in today’s lawsuit seeks to expand the program to cover any immigrant in the United States who cannot prove residency for over two years, placing all such individuals at risk of immediate removal from the country, without any of the protections afforded in the normal immigration process. 

Partners Andrew Thomases (Silicon Valley), Chong Park (Washington, D.C.) and Deborah Gardner (Boston) are serving as pro bono co-counsel to Lawyers for Civil Rights.