A US federal appeals court has ruled that the Trump administration cannot expand fast-track deportations across the United States. The judges said the policy creates a real risk of mistakes and unlawful removals, and that it threatens immigrant due process rights, which guarantee fair treatment to all people under the US Constitution. The ruling came from a three-judge panel on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The judges voted 2-1 to deny the administration’s request to restart the expanded deportation plan while the legal case continues. This means the earlier ruling from the lower court remains in place. That earlier ruling was made in August by US District Judge Jia Cobb. She said the administration could not enforce the expansion because it failed to show that immigrants would get the protections they are entitled to. Her ruling said the policy could cause people to be deported quickly, even if they faced danger or had legal reasons to stay in the country. She said these risks were too high and went against immigrant due process rights under the Fifth Amendment. The Trump administration asked the appeals court to put her ruling on hold and allow the expanded policy to begin again while the appeal was underway. But two of the appellate judges, Patricia Millett and J. Michelle Childs, refused. They said the government did not provide enough proof that its procedures were able to prevent wrongful deportations. They warned that the plan came with “serious risks of erroneous summary removal,” meaning people could be turned away by mistake with no real chance to explain their case. They said this risk was unacceptable when so many lives could be affected. One part of Judge Cobb’s order was paused by the appeals court. That part involved the process used to decide whether a person has a credible fear of harm if they are sent back to their home country. But the main block on the expanded policy stayed in place. Judge Neomi Rao, who was appointed by Donald Trump, disagreed with the majority. She said the lower court’s ruling was too much “judicial interference” and argued that the government should be allowed to run its immigration system as it sees fit. The Department of Homeland Security did not comment on the ruling. The full appeal on the issue will be heard on 9 December. Until that hearing, the expanded deportation rules remain blocked. The outcome of the December hearing will decide whether the policy can move forward in the future. Fast-track deportation, also known as expedited removal, allows the government to quickly remove certain immigrants without a hearing before an immigration judge. The system has been used for almost 30 years for people caught near the border who cannot show that they have lived in the US for a long time. The Trump administration’s expansion attempted to use the same system on people found anywhere in the country. Under the plan, non-citizens who could not prove two years of continuous presence in the US could be removed in a matter of days. This change was similar to a 2019 Trump-era rule that was later canceled by the Biden administration. Both versions faced challenges from immigrant rights groups, including Make the Road New York. These groups said the policy was unsafe because many people do not carry documents that prove how long they have lived in the country. They warned that the fast system could lead to wrongful deportations, splitting families and sending people back to places where they might face harm. Supporters of the administration’s plan said the expanded system would help cut delays and reduce pressure on immigration courts. But the appeals court said the risks were too high to ignore. By keeping the block in place, the judges said they were protecting immigrant due process rights while the legal fight continues.