A unanimous three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit upheld a lower court restriction targeting the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).The Core Issue: The court ruled that the U.S. government cannot swiftly deport undocumented immigrants to third countries (like Jamaica) without giving them advance notice of their destination.

Judge Seth Aframe wrote that a migrant’s legal right to contest a deportation based on a fear of persecution or torture means nothing if they do not know where they are being sent. The court declared that hiding the destination from migrants denies them a “meaningful opportunity to contest” the removal.

This ruling serves as an external, legal “brake” on the implementation of the freshly finalized Jamaica–U.S. transit agreement.While the Jamaican government finalized local “guardrails” (such as the 25-person cap and the 10-asylum suspension trigger), this U.S. judicial block adds a significant hurdle from the American side. Because the U.S. administration must now legally provide migrants with advanced notice and the right to challenge being sent to third-party nations, the swift, unchecked flow of TCN transit flights to Jamaica and nearly 30 other partner countries will face intense legal delays.

The Trump administration is widely expected to appeal the First Circuit’s ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, meaning the immediate operational start date for these transit flights remains in limbo.