The D.C. Circuit of Appeals gets the Constitution right on expedited removal

The D.C. Circuit of Appeals gets the Constitution right on expedited removal

Congress put expedited removal on the books in 1996. Bill Clinton signed it. For nearly three decades, it has authorized immigration officers to deport certain unauthorized entrants without a full court hearing. On Tuesday, a federal appeals court confirmed that the Trump administration's expansion of that authority is constitutional. The ruling wasn't close on the merits. What's remarkable is that it needed to be litigated at all.

The D.C. Circuit of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, reversed a lower court order blocking the administration's January 2025 expansion of expedited removal. Before this year, the process applied only near the border and only to recent entrants who couldn't prove two weeks of continuous presence. The expansion extends it nationwide and raises that threshold to two years. Two Trump-appointed judges—Justin Walker and Neomi Rao—found the policy provides constitutionally adequate notice and a meaningful opportunity to be heard. Obama-appointed Judge Robert Wilkins dissented.

The dissent's core objection: the policy doesn't require officers to inform migrants of the two-year defense, so migrants might not raise it.........

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