Update on Third Country Removals – Nationwide Class Certified and Preliminary Injunction Issued
Today, the court certified this nationwide class:
All individuals who have a final removal order issued in proceedings under Section 240, 241(a)(5), or 238(b) of the INA (including withholding-only proceedings) whom DHS has deported or will deport on or after February 18, 2025, to a country (a) not previously designated as the country or alternative country of removal, and (b) not identified in writing in the prior proceedings as a country to which the individual would be removed.
As to this class, the Court issued the following preliminary injunctive relief:
[P]rior to removing any [noncitizen] to a third country, i.e., any country not explicitly provided for on the [noncitizen]’s order of removal, Defendants must:
(1) provide written notice to the [noncitizen] —and the [noncitizen]’s immigration counsel, if any—of the third country to which the [noncitizen] may be removed, in a language the [noncitizen] can understand;
(2) provide meaningful opportunity for the [noncitizen] to raise a fear of return for eligibility for CAT protections;
(3) move to reopen the proceedings if the [noncitizen] demonstrates “reasonable fear”; and
(4) if the [noncitizen] is not found to have demonstrated “reasonable fear,” provide meaningful opportunity, and a minimum of 15 days, for that [noncitizen] to seek to move to reopen immigration proceedings to challenge the potential third-country removal.