A recent Department of Homeland Security policy that allows immigrants to be deported to countries that aren't their own could put them in danger and is unlawful, a federal judge has ruled.

The department must not remove migrants to so-called "third countries," U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy said in his ruling on Wednesday, Feb. 25. The practice, Murphy said, amounts to dropping people off in "parts unknown" and, "as long as the Department doesn’t already know that there’s someone standing there waiting to shoot ... that’s fine."

"It is not fine, nor is it legal," Murphy said in the ruling, citing a U.S. law that prevents the government from removing someone to a country where their "life or freedom would be threatened" because of their "race, religion, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion."

After the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good by federal immigration agents (ICE), communities across the U.S. are protesting against Trump's surge of immigration enforcement actions.Pictured here, Demonstrators gather for a protest calling for the removal of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Jan. 30, 2026 in the Chinatown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Protests were held across the United States in response to ICE enforcement activity.

Hundreds of people gather to protest ICE at the corner of Palafox and Garden Streets in downtown Pensacola, Florida, on Jan. 30, 2026.

Penn High School students participate in a walkout protesting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, in Mishawaka, Indiana.

Protesters gather at City Hall in response to recent actions by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, commonly referred to as "ICE," and the presence of Flock cameras in the community and Indiana University campus, in Bloomington, Indiana, on Jan. 30, 2026.

A Penn High School student confronts a man in a car line at the school who was shouting, "Let's go ICE!" as students were marching past during a walkout protesting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, in Mishawaka, Indiana.

Protesters gather at City Hall in Bloomington, Indiana, on Jan. 30, 2026, in response to recent immigration enforcement actions by the government.

After the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good by federal immigration agents (ICE), communities across the U.S. are protesting against Trump's surge of immigration enforcement actions.Pictured here, Demonstrators gather for a protest calling for the removal of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Jan. 30, 2026 in the Chinatown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Protests were held across the United States in response to ICE enforcement activity.