The Courts Finally Let America Enforce Its Own Immigration Laws

The D.C. Circuit's recent ruling on expedited removal is a victory for sovereignty—and a death blow to the sanctuary city playbook.

Originally published by the American Spectator (July 14, 2026)

The key to slashing the illegal alien population isn't the border. It's the interior.

For years, the unlimited immigration model depended on the assumption that once illegal aliens got past the 100-mile border zone, they were functionally protected by distance, time, and local law enforcement. All they had to do was avoid arrest for two years—or make sure they were in a sanctuary city if they committed a crime.

In a victory for the rule of law, on June 23, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals dealt that strategy a serious hit by allowing "expedited removal" of illegal aliens anywhere.

Authored by Circuit Judge Justin Walker, the 2–1 decision holds that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) may apply this policy "to the maximum extent allowed by Congress." This means nationwide instead of within the narrow 100-mile radius of the country's borders, as had been the previous policy. Any illegal alien who cannot prove he or she has lived in the country continuously for at least two years is now fair game.

The ruling reversed an August 2025 district court injunction that had sided with the open-borders advocacy group Make the Road New York, which claimed the policy violated due process.

This ruling dismantles that assumption and provides court precedent for the policy Trump implemented at the end of his first term. Immigration officers can now hunt down illegal aliens in Chicago, New York, or Los Angeles with the same speed and legal authority they have at the border, quickly deporting them without these lawbreakers enjoying the benefit of free legal counsel that leftist nonprofits provide regularly.

CBP Can't Just Remove Illegal Aliens at Will

At first glance, some people may be confused by the case. That's because many erroneously believe being in the country illegally is grounds enough for expedited removal. But the only reason Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers have the authority to remove illegal aliens without parading them before a judge is because of a 1996 congressional law creating the expedited removal authority.

It not only authorizes illegal entrants not seeking asylum to be removed from the country immediately, but also gives the Attorney General—now the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary after DHS's creation—discretion to apply the policy to any illegal alien who cannot prove continuous residence in the United States for at least two years.

In 2002, as illegal border crossings ticked up, President George W. Bush expanded the policy beyond land points of entry to include seaports. In 2004, it was expanded again to include illegal aliens found within 100 miles of the border if they'd entered less than two weeks prior.

In 2019, the Trump administration expanded expedited removal to cover illegal aliens found anywhere in the country who could not prove continual residence for two years or more. Biden's DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas rescinded this policy in March 2022. The Trump administration's January 2025 directive simply restored it.

Judge Walker's majority opinion guts the central complaint from open borders advocates—that the government must somehow walk all detained illegal aliens through every conceivable legal defense before deporting them. As the court correctly noted, the Constitution requires notice and an opportunity to respond—not a government-furnished legal strategy.

After the Circuit Court's decision, DHS General Counsel James Percival correctly noted that the policy had been "arbitrarily limited" for years, even though the statute itself permits much broader application. He reminded illegal aliens that "it's not too late to take a $2,600 check and a free flight home!"

Why This Matters for Sanctuary Cities

During the Biden administration, millions of illegal aliens settled deep in the country's interior with the expectation that they would never face expedited deportation. For many, it is already too late, as they have been here for more than two years. For those who snuck across in the final days of Biden's term, this ruling clears away obstructionist litigation, allowing immigration officers to do their job—even in sanctuary cities.

Trump campaigned explicitly on the mass removal of illegal aliens and the restoration of immigration enforcement. Voters delivered him and Republicans in Congress a mandate to do exactly that. For too long, district court judges have used due process arguments to veto that mandate. The D.C. Circuit's ruling is a welcome reminder that a judge's job is to interpret the law Congress wrote, not to manufacture procedural rights nowhere in the legislation because they disagree with executive policy.

Despite this victory, the legal fight is not yet over. The ACLU has already signaled it will appeal. For now, however, immigration officers have been given the green light to do their job as federal law allows. This ruling deals a powerful blow to sanctuary cities that for too long have shielded people who overstayed their visas or trespassed onto American soil.

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