Saturday, January 25, 2025 - The new Donald Trump administration is issuing a new round of measures that could rapidly deport immigrants who entered the United States through recently established legal pathways, according to an Internal Department of Homeland Security memo obtained Friday, January 24.
The
directive signed by the acting homeland security secretary, Benjamine Huffman,
grants Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officials unprecedented
authority to expedite deportations for immigrants who entered the country with
government authorization through two key Biden-era programs.
These
programs, which have allowed more than a million immigrants to enter the
country since 2023, have provided scheduling for migrants or asylum seekers
through the government-run app CBP One or temporary legal status for up to two
years through a parole program for certain countries.
The newly
reported memo instructs Ice officials to identify and potentially rapidly
deport immigrants who have been in the country for over a year and have not yet
applied for asylum, in effect sidestepping traditional immigration court
proceedings.
As the
report spread, Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, posted on X on
Friday: “Deportation flights have begun,” accompanied by official pictures of
people boarding a military-style aircraft.
Despite
such flights being routine under successive administrations, the White House
has shared images of the ICE actions and also deployed troops to the
US-Mexico border late on Thursday, including US marines arriving in California.
A DHS
spokesperson defended the new policies, writing in a statement that “Criminals
will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid
arrest,” and that the administration “trusts law enforcement to use common
sense”.
The
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has already challenged the policy in
federal court, with the senior staff attorney Anand Balakrishnan characterizing
the approach as a “mass deportation agenda” that circumvents constitutional due
process.
Thousands
who had received or were waiting for CBP One appointments south of the border
were left devastated this week after the app was abruptly shut down moments
after Trump was sworn in, while those already in the country using the app and
who were preparing to apply for asylum may now be in the line of fire.
Later on Friday, the Trump administration followed up, announcing that it was expanding a fast-track deportation authority nationwide, allowing immigration officers to deport people without appearing before a judge.
The
administration said it was expanding the use of “expedited removal” authority
so it could be used across the country, in a notice in the Federal Register
outlining the new rules.
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