Subsequent Trump and Court Action(s)

• January 27, 2025

  2025.01.27 - CBS News: Trump eyes asylum agreement with El Salvador to deport migrants there

  CBS news reports the Trump administration is pursuing a "Safe Third Country" agreement with El Salvador to allow the deportation of deport non-Salvadoran migrants there and block their ability to seek asylum in the U.S. This plan would revive a previous Trump 1.0 administration agreement that was never implemented and aligns with the current administration's broader efforts to restrict immigration. The partnership with El Salvador is also tied to addressing transnational gangs like Tren de Aragua, and President Nayib Bukele’s government is seen as a key ally due to its anti-gang policies.

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• February 3, 2025

  2025.02.03 Secretary Rubio’s Meeting with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele - US Department of State

  According to a State Department press release, Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on February 3rd. The release notes that "multiple agreements were struck to fight the waves of illegal mass migration currently destabilizing the entire region" and that President Bukele promised to accept and incarcerate U.S. deportations of "criminal illegal migrants from any country," including members of the Venezuelan gang Tren De Aragua. El Salvadoran President also offered to incarcerate "dangerous American criminals, including U.S. citizens and legal residents."

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• February 5, 2025

  2025.02.05 - ABC News: Guatemala strikes deal with Rubio to accept migrants from other countries

  According to reporting, Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo agreed to accept migrants from other countries being removed from the U.S. Under this "Safe Third Country" agreement, the U.S. would then fund the further removal of these migrants to their home countries.

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• February 13, 2025

  2025.02.13 - NYT: U.S. Deports Migrants to Panama

  According to the NYT, the Trump Administration removed 119 migrants to Panama on a U.S. Air Force flight. The migrants originated "from countries such as Afghanistan, China, Pakistan and Uzbekistan . . . [nations to which it] is often difficult for the United States to return migrants. . . " President José Raúl Mulino of Panama stated that the migrants "were being housed in a local hotel and would be moved to a shelter in Darién." They will then be repatriated - a process that, according to Mr. Mulino, will be funded by the U.S. and managed by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). This removal arrangement with Panama will allow "for more rapid removal of migrants whose home countries are reluctant to accept them."

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• February 17, 2025

  2025.02.17 - NYT: Costa Rica to Receive 200 Deported Migrants From U.S.

  The New York Times reports Costa Rica announced it would receive a deportation flight this week from the United States carrying 200 migrants from Central Asia and India. Like Panama, Costa Rica says its territory will “serve as a bridge” for the migrants’ return to their countries of origin, and that the repatriation process would be “fully funded by the U.S. government, under the supervision of the International Organization for Migration.”

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• March 1, 2025

  2025.03.01 Reported: Lawsuit Against Panama Challenges Detention of Trump Deportees - NYT

  NYT reports that a group of lawyers filed a suit against Panama before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights over the country's detention of people deported from the United States. The lawsuit's plaintiffs are 10 Iranian Christian converts and 102 migrants "detained at a camp near a jungle in Panama." The suit, which was only filed against Panama, alleges that the United States violated the plaintiffs' right to asylum on the basis of religious persecution and "that Panama has violated domestic and international laws" by detaining these individuals.

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• March 23, 2025

  2025.03.23 Class Action Complaint - D.V.D. v U.S. Department of Homeland Security

  Four individuals with final removal orders filed a national class action in the District of Massachusetts challenging DHS’s policy of deporting noncitizens to third countries without notice and an opportunity to raise fear-based claims. The lawsuit claims that an email directive sent by ICE on February 18 "magnified the practical impact" of DHS's new policy of removing noncitizens to third countries by "instruct[ing] DHS officers to review all cases of individuals previously released from immigration detention – including those who have complied with the terms of their release for years, even decades – for re-detention and removal to a third country."

  Plaintiffs argue this violates "basic procedural protections" and denies noncitizens the "opportunity to present a fear-based claim." Moreover, plaintiffs claim the policy puts lives at risk, pointing to cases like O.C.G., who was deported to Mexico despite evidence of previous persecution. The lawsuit seeks to block DHS from carrying out these removals without basic procedural safeguards. D.V.D. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, No. 1:25-cv-10676 (D. Mass.)

  **Litigation entries are limited to initial complaints and major substantive rulings. For pleadings and additional information, use name and docket number to search Civil Rights Clearinghouse and CourtListener or visit Just Security Litigation Tracker**

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• March 28, 2025

  2025.03.28 TRO - D.V.D v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security

  District court judge Brian E. Murphy granted a temporary restraining order barring the Trump administration from deporting any person to a country they are not a national of without written notice and a "meaningful opportunity" to apply for withholding of removal or protection under the Convention Against Torture in the U.S. D.V.D. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, No. 1:25-cv-10676 (D. Mass.)

  **See litigation note above**

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• March 30, 2025

  2025.03.30 DHS Guidance Regarding Third Country Removals

  Subsequent to the TRO issued in the D.V.D. litigation, DHS Secretary Noem issued guidance on removing noncitizens with a final order of removal to a third country not previously designated as the country of removal. Under the guidance, noncitizens may be removed to a third country "without the need for further procedures" if that country has provided credible "diplomatic assurances" that noncitizens removed there "will not be persecuted or tortured."

  Immigration officers are instructed to "inform the alien of removal to that country" and not "affirmatively ask whether the alien is afraid of being removed to that country." Any noncitizen that affirmatively states a fear of removal to a third country without being asked will be referred to USCIS for reasonable fear screening. If USCIS determines that a noncitizen "will more likely than not be persecuted on a statutorily protected ground or tortured in the country of removal," he/she may be referred to the immigration court. If he/she was previously in proceedings before the immigration court, ICE can move to reopen the proceedings, or alternatively, "choose to designate another country for removal."

  This memorandum was produced in D.V.D. v. Dep't. of Homeland Sec., 1:25-cv-10676-BEM (D. Mass.).

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• April 18, 2025

  2025.04.18 Preliminary Injunction - D.V.D. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security

  District Court Judge Brian E. Murphy granted class certification to the plaintiffs and issued a preliminary injunction in D.V.D. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, No. 1:25-cv-10676 (D. Mass.). The court ordered that before removing any noncitizen to a third country that is not provided for on the noncitizen’s order of removal issued in proceedings under INA Sections 240, 241(a)(5), or 238(b), the government must: (1) provide written notice to the noncitizen (and counsel, if any) of the third country to which the noncitizen may be removed, in a language that 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 the noncitizen to seek to move to reopen immigration proceedings to challenge the potential third-country removal.

  **See litigation note above**

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