A temporary order will give some migrants a chance to convince the government that deporting them to “third countries” such as El Salvador would put them at risk.

In a significant legal blow to the Trump administration’s immigration agenda, a federal judge has slammed the brakes on a controversial deportation policy that allowed the deportation of migrants to countries where they had no prior connection — without first giving them a chance to challenge their removal in court.

A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deporting people who have exhausted legal appeals to countries other than their own without first being allowed to argue that it would jeopardize their safety.