The Trump administration recently achieved a victory in immigration policy when the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals granted its request for an administrative stay. This decision follows a February 25, 2026, order from Massachusetts District Court Judge Brian Murphy, which limited the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from deporting illegal aliens to third countries that were not originally designated in their immigration proceedings.
As previously mentioned, the 1st Circuit’s granting of the administrative stay was only a temporary measure, intended to allow the appellate court to further consider the request for a stay pending appeal. However, the order also indicated that the court would make a decision on the latter promptly, and it has now granted that request as well.
Details regarding the court’s reasoning for this decision are limited. This is all we get:
“Defendants’ emergency motion for stay pending appeal is granted,” followed by a briefing schedule and a footnote indicating that one of the three judges on the panel, Lara Montecalvo, would have denied the stay. (If you were wondering, Montecalvo is a Biden appointee — but so is Seth Aframe, who ruled in favor of the stay, along with Bush 43 appointee Jeffrey Howard.)
Either way, the Trump admin gets another ‘W’ which Attorney General Pam Bondi noted on X Monday morning:
New legal victory: the First Circuit just ruled that the Trump Administration can CONTINUE deporting illegal aliens to third countries.
There is more work ahead on this important issue, but this is a key win for @POTUS’s immigration agenda.@thejusticedept attorneys will…
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) March 16, 2026
She wrote:
New legal victory: the First Circuit just ruled that the Trump Administration can CONTINUE deporting illegal aliens to third countries.
There is more work ahead on this important issue, but this is a key win for @POTUS’s immigration agenda.
@thejusticedept attorneys will continue fighting tirelessly to advance and protect President Trump’s policies in court.
Okay, so this is just a procedure ruling on the case, not one on its merits. But it’s still a notable win for the administration and President Trump’s mass deportation agenda.
