Trump administration to expand groups of immigrants to be deported: documents
The Trump administration plans to direct immigration agents
to greatly expand the categories of immigrants they target for
deportation, according to drafts of two memos seen by Reuters and first
reported by McClatchy news organization on Saturday.
Two
sources familiar with the plans told Reuters the documents have been
approved by Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly, but are under
final review by the White House. They are expected to be released to
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) early next week.
Under
the orders, hundreds of thousands of people would face expedited
removal proceedings, including those that had not been prioritized for
deportation under former President Barack Obama.
The
memos are guidance to instruct agents in the field to implement two
executive orders signed by Trump on Jan. 25 intended to deter future
migration and drive out more illegal migrants from the United States.
One
memo instructs ICE agents to ignore Obama’s memos on immigration
priorities that targeted only recent arrivals and convicted criminal
migrants for deportation. Instead, migrants who have been charged with
crimes but not convicted would be prioritized for deportation. The
guidance also allows ICE agents wide discretion in deciding who to
deport and considers anyone in the United States illegally to be subject
to deportation.
The
guidance does leave in place Obama’s 2012 executive action that
protected 750,000 people brought to the United States illegally by their
parents. The fate of the policy, known as DACA, has been hotly debated
within the White House, according to sources familiar with the
discussions. Trump said in a news conference Friday that DACA was a
“very difficult subject” for him.
The ICE memo also states that immigrants will not be afforded rights under U.S. privacy laws.
The
second memo instructs CBP officers to crack down on illegal migration
at the border by holding migrants in detention until a determination in
their case is made.
The
Department of Homeland Security did not deny any information contained
in the draft memos but did not provide further detail.
A
source familiar with the guidance said the memos were scheduled to be
distributed on Friday but the White House made a last-minute request to
review them. It is not known whether the White House may alter the
guidance.
Kelly
said in one of the memos that illegal immigration across the U.S.
border with Mexico had "created a significant national security
vulnerability to the United States."
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