Fast-Track Deportation Now Reaches the Whole Country. Two Years of Proof Is How You Push Back.

There is a piece of paper that can now decide whether you sleep in your own bed tonight or on a plane out of the country. It is proof that you have lived in the United States for two years. Until last week, most people never had to think about carrying it. That just changed.

On June 23, 2026, the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit handed the government a major win in a case called Make the Road New York v. Mullin, No. 25-5320. The court lifted the order that had been blocking the government from using fast-track deportation, called expedited removal, across the interior of the country. For years that fast track was used mainly at and near the border. Now an officer can use it against someone picked up in a parking lot in Queens, outside a courthouse in Newark, or at a check-in in an office hundreds of miles from any border.

If you or someone you love is undocumented, this is the most important practical change in immigration enforcement in a long time. The good news is that there is a concrete, doable thing you can do about it this week. Let us walk through it.

What "expedited removal" actually means

Most people imagine deportation as a long process. You get a notice, you get a court date, you stand before an immigration judge, you have a chance to ask for relief. That picture is still true for many people. Expedited removal is the exception, and it is brutal in its speed.

Under the statute, found at INA section 235(b)(1) and 8 U.S.C. section 1225(b)(1), a single immigration officer can order a person removed. There is normally no hearing in front of a judge. There is no bond hearing. There is often no real chance to gather documents or reach a lawyer before the order is signed. Congress wrote this tool in 1996 for people caught right at the border who had just arrived. The fight in Make the Road was about how far into the country, and how far back in time, the government could stretch it.

The D.C. Circuit's answer was sweeping. As the court explained, the law allows expedited removal against a person who "cannot show continuous physical presence for at least two years," wherever they are found, when the Secretary of Homeland Security designates it. The court vacated the stay that had been holding this back. In plain terms, the two-year line is now the whole ballgame.

Why two years is suddenly the most important number in your life

Think about what that rule does. It puts the burden on you. If an officer questions you and you cannot demonstrate that you have been physically present in the United States for at least two years, you risk being treated as someone who can be removed on the spot, without ever seeing a judge.

This is exactly the kind of moment where the real competition for your attention is not a lawyer. It is the voice that says do nothing and hope ICE never knocks. It is the cousin who heard something secondhand. It is a post in a Facebook group written with total confidence and zero accuracy. Every one of those options feels easier today and costs you everything on the day an officer stops you. The honest path is less comfortable and far safer. Get your proof in order now, before you need it.

What actually counts as proof, in concrete terms

People hear "prove two years" and freeze, because it sounds like a legal mountain. It is not. It is a paper trail, and most people already have more of it than they think.

What you want is documentation that ties your physical presence to specific dates stretching back at least two years, ideally longer. A lease, rent receipts, or letters from a landlord show where you have been living. Pay stubs, an employer letter, or tax returns show work over time. School enrollment and report cards for your children, and medical or dental records for anyone in the family, are powerful because they are dated and hard to fake. Dated utility bills, phone bills, bank statements, and money transfer receipts all add links to the chain. Even a consistent stream of dated photos with location information can help.

You do not need every one of these. You need enough dated records, spread across the months, that no reasonable officer could claim you just arrived. Gather them now. Make at least two copies. Keep one set somewhere safe at home and leave another with a trusted friend or family member who is not at risk, so the documents survive even if you are detained. Consider keeping a simple summary in your wallet or phone with the names and numbers of your lawyer and your emergency contact.

What to do in the moment an officer stops you

Knowing your rights only helps if you remember them when your heart is pounding. So commit a few things to memory now.

You have the right to remain silent, and you can say so out loud. You can say that you want to speak with a lawyer. You do not have to answer questions about where you were born or how you entered the country. Do not run, and do not lie, because both can be used against you and can turn a survivable situation into a disaster. If you have your proof of two years of presence, this is the moment it matters, so be ready to show it.

There is one more thing that can change everything. If you are afraid to return to your country, say it clearly. Under the law, expressing a fear of return is supposed to trigger a separate screening interview that pulls you out of the fast track and toward an asylum process. Officers are not always going to invite you to say it. You have to know to say it yourself.

If you want a deeper walkthrough of what to do when officers come to your home, your work, or your courthouse, read our guide on what to do when ICE is at the door.

This is complicated. Complicated is exactly what we do.

Here is the part the fast track is designed to make you forget. Expedited removal is not as automatic as an officer may make it sound. There are real legal questions about whether it even applies to a particular person, whether the two years was properly evaluated, and whether a fear of return was ignored. Those questions can be the difference between a deportation and a day in front of a judge. But they have to be raised fast, often within hours, by someone who knows where to push.

That is the work we have done for twenty years. If you or someone in your family could be exposed to this, do not wait for the knock to find out what your options are. Get your two years of proof together, save our number, and let us look at your situation while there is still room to act. The consultation is free, and we will talk it through in English, Spanish, French, Creole, or Mandarin. You have carried this fear alone long enough.