Donald Trump fast-tracks deportation law to kick out illegal migrants without a judge or court approving it
DONALD Trump has announced a new fast-track deportation process that will see illegal migrants kicked out of the US without a judge’s approval. From Tuesday, any migrants who cannot prove they’ve been in the US continuously for more than two years will be immediately deported. Previously, only immigrants caught within 100 miles of the Mexican […]
DONALD Trump has announced a new fast-track deportation process that will see illegal migrants kicked out of the US without a judge’s approval.
From Tuesday, any migrants who cannot prove they’ve been in the US continuously for more than two years will be immediately deported.
Previously, only immigrants caught within 100 miles of the Mexican border who had been in the country two weeks or less could be rapidly deported.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) rights group has vowed to challenge the new policy in court.
Acting US Homeland Security secretary Kevin McAleenan said the new rules would address an “ongoing crisis on the southern border”.
REDUCE BACKLOG
The new system will also free up more beds in detention facilities and will reduce a backlog of more than 900,000 cases in immigration courts, he said.
US authorities do not have space to detain “the vast majority” of people arrested on the Mexican border, leading to the release of hundreds of thousands with notices to appear in court, McAleenan said in the policy directive to be published Tuesday in the Federal Register.
He said Homeland Security officials with the new deportation power will deport migrants in the country illegally more quickly than the Justice Department’s immigration courts, where cases can take years to resolve.
‘UNLAWFUL PLAN’
But the ALCU said it would sue to block the policy.
Omar Jawdat, director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, said: “Under this unlawful plan, immigrants who have lived here for years would be deported with less due process than people get in traffic court.”
“Expedited removal” gives enforcement agencies broad authority to deport people without allowing them to appear before an immigration judge with limited exceptions, including if they express fear of returning home and pass an initial screening interview for asylum.
The powers were created under a 1996 law but went largely unnoticed until 2004, when Homeland Security said it would be enforced for people who are arrested within two weeks of entering the US by land and caught within 100 miles of the border.
The new policy comes just eight days after after an unprecedented number of families arrived at the border from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
Critics have said it grants too much power to immigration agents and US Customs and Border Protection officials.
Under this unlawful plan, immigrants who have lived here for years would be deported with less due process than people get in traffic court
Omar Jawdat, director of the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project
Mr McAleenan said 20,570 people arrested in the nation’s interior between October 2017 and September 2018 had been in the US less than two years, which would make them eligible for fast-track deportation under the new rule.
And critics say the impact could be more far-reaching because many who have been in the US for longer than two years may be unable to prove they have been in the country for so long.
“Expanding the fast-track procedure to apply anywhere in the US is a recipe for ripping thousands more families apart and devastating communities,” said Grace Meng, Human Rights Watch’s US program acting deputy director. “This is a massive and dangerous change.”
President Donald Trump’s strict border and immigration crackdown has made it difficult, if not impossible, for thousands of Central American families to migrate to the US in hopes for a better future.
The desperate families have been making their way to the United States over the past five years while petitioning for asylum.
There are an estimated 12 million immigrants who are in the US illegally, mainly from Mexico and Central America.
Under a deal reached last month, Mexico has agreed to take Central American immigrants seeking asylum until their cases are heard in US courts.
‘SAFE-THIRD AGREEMENT’
The agreement, which included Mexico pledging to deploy National Guard troops to stop people from reaching the southern American border, averted a Trump threat to hit Mexican imports with tariffs.
Trump also said then in a tweet that Guatemala “is getting ready to sign a Safe-Third Agreement.”
Many migrants from Honduras have broken through fences or ferried themselves across the Suchiate River which marks the border with Guatemala.
For the migrants, many of whom are fleeing poverty and gang violence, the entrance to the US means another day’s walking under a blazing sun.
For many, arriving at the US border was a sign of relief. While for others – it’s the beginning of a difficult journey ahead.
Many migrants have died in custody after being kept in packed cages with very little food and water.
Between May 14 and June 13, US Border Patrol facilities were housing over 14,000 people a day — and sometimes as many as 18,000.
Most of these were single adults, or parents with children.
However, over that month, more than 2,000 were “unaccompanied alien children,” or children being held without adult relatives in separate facilities.
SUICIDE ATTEMPT
Last week it emerged that a traumatised migrant girl has been left brain-dead following an attempted suicide after her dad was repeatedly stopped at the US border from joining her in the US.
Heydi Gámez Garcia, 13, became depressed after her dad was held in detention after he was caught illegally crossing the southern border in June.
Heydi’s sister Jessica Gámez tragically found her unresponsive in her bedroom.
She told New York Times: “She was so smart, it doesn’t make sense why she made a decision like this, a decision so out of character. I thought she would be safer here with me, safer than in Honduras.”
TRUMP’S ATTACK
The announcement of the new rules also comes after Trump launched a fresh attack on the four congresswomen he told to “go back” to the “crime infested places” they came from – claiming they are “weak and insecure” people.
The race row deepened when a crowd at a Trump rally in North Carolina last week chanted “send her back” at Representative Ilhan Omar, who was born in Somalia, but become an American citizen as a teen.
President Trump has since tried to distance himself from his supporters’ chants – claiming he disagreed with it and “doesn’t have a racist bone” in his body.
most read in news
However he went to attack Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ayanna Pressley and Omar again yesterday on Twitter.
He said: “I don’t believe the four Congresswomen are capable of loving our Country. They should apologize to America (and Israel) for the horrible (hateful) things they have said.
“They are destroying the Democrat Party, but are weak & insecure people who can never destroy our great Nation!”
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368 . You can WhatsApp us on 07810 791 502. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.