News & Reports
Reports and analysis on torture prevention, OPCAT ratifications, UN treaty body sessions, and human rights documentation, sourced from OHCHR, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the Coalition monitoring work.
Nineteen Seconds on a Local Broadcast. The Ruling Itself Is the Citation.
A North Carolina broadcaster reported in nineteen seconds that a federal judge held the third-country removal policy unlawful. The clip is worth carrying. It is not a substitute for the ruling.
A Federal Court Set the Third-Country Removal Policy Aside. It Is Not in Force.
On 25 February 2026 the District of Massachusetts set the government’s third-country removal policy aside as unlawful. Three weeks later the First Circuit stayed that judgment pending appeal. The appeal was argued on 13 May 2026 and has not been decided, so the policy the district court struck down is the policy still being applied.
Court Orders Release and Reinstates Supervision After ICE Gave No Reasons for Re-Detention
A federal court in California ordered the release of a man re-detained after years on an order of supervision, finding the notice he was given stated no reasons for the revocation. The government told the court it had no opposition argument to present.
Ten Cases, Eleven Decisions: What Courts Have Said About Removal as Punishment
Between August 2025 and March 2026, federal courts answered the same question eleven times. Six held that third-country removal paired with imprisonment is intended as punishment and violates due process. Five declined. None rejected the principle, and what divides them is evidence about the destination.
US Court Sets Aside Third-Country Removal Policy; Appeal Court Stays the Judgment
A US district court held in February 2026 that people facing removal to a third country are entitled to meaningful notice and an opportunity to raise a country-specific claim. The judgment was stayed on appeal in March 2026.
DHS v. D.V.D., No. 24A1153 (U.S. June 23, 2025); D.V.D. v. Department of Homeland Security, No. 25-cv-10676-BEM, 2026 WL 521557 (D. Mass. Feb. 25, 2026); First Circuit stay of 16 March 2026; DHS policy memorandum, 'Guidance Regarding Third Country Removals', 30 March 2025; ICE guidance of 9 July 2025.