A federal appeals court has ruled in favor of expanding a fast-track deportation process to let the Trump administration expeditiously remove illegal immigrants who are living inside the United States, not just at the southern border.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit reinstated President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20, 2025, plan to use a process known as expedited removal to deport illegal immigrants deep within the country rather than wait months or years for immigration judges to sign off.

Fast-track removals were initially barred by a lower court judge in August 2025.

The 2-1 decision on Tuesday stated that the expedited removals did not violate due process protections to those who illegally entered or were illegally present in the U.S.

The reinstatement will have broad implications for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as the federal agency carries out Trump’s mass deportation operation nationwide.

Expedited removal has long been used at the border to send back illegal immigrants who crossed illegally quickly.

Now, ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel will be able to deport certain illegal immigrants in a matter of days, even hours, without a hearing. Historically, illegal immigrants held in detention wait months to appear before an immigration judge, who must decide if they should be removed.

The fast-track deportation process will apply to illegal immigrants who entered the U.S. without inspection or parole, meaning people who were not apprehended by the Border Patrol and are known as “gotaways” and have no record of being released into the country.

Additionally, illegal immigrants who can prove that they have been living in the U.S. for two consecutive years and asylum-seekers who have passed the initial credible fear screening are exempt from this process.