LOS ANGELES, CA – FEBRUARY 18: Marchers pass rose
pedals outside a wedding chapel during the Immigrants
Make America Great March to protest actions being
taken by the Trump administration on February 18, 2017
in Los Angeles, California. Protesters are calling for an
end to stepped up ICE raids and deportations, and that
health care be provided for documented and
undocumented people. David McNew/Getty Images/AFP.
PHOTO: DAVID MCNEW / GETTY IMAGES NORTH
AMERICA / AFP
The Department of Homeland Security issued
tough new orders Tuesday to begin a sweeping
crackdown on illegal immigrants, putting
nearly all of the country’s 11 million
undocumented foreigners in their cross-hairs.
Two memos issued by DHS Secretary John Kelly
order border patrol and immigration officers to
deport as quickly as possible any illegal
immigrants they find, with only a few
exceptions, principally children.
The priority for deportation will remain
undocumented immigrants convicted of crimes,
but will also include anyone who has been
charged or potentially faces criminal charges.
However, categories of illegal immigrants
deemed as low priority by the previous Barack
Obama administration — generally anyone not
tied to a crime — are no longer protected.
“With extremely limited exceptions, DHS will
not exempt classes or categories of removal
aliens from potential enforcement,” the
department said.
“All of those in violation of the immigration
laws may be subject to enforcement
proceedings, up to and including removal from
the United States.”
Kelly ordered immediate action to begin
planning and building a wall along the US
southern border with Mexico.
He also ordered the hiring of another 5,000
officers for the Customs and Border Protection
agency and 10,000 for the Immigration and
Customs Enforcement agency.
Soon after being inaugurated president on
January 20, Trump ordered action to begin
construction of a wall along the nearly 2,000-
mile-long (3,145 kilometer) US-Mexico border,
a tightening of border security, and tougher
enforcement against illegal immigrants inside
the country.
The memos come ahead of meetings this week
between Kelly and US Secretary of State Rex
Tillerson and Mexican President Enrique Pena
Nieto in Mexico.
Besides Pena Nieto, the two American officials
will meet with Mexico’s ministers of the
interior, foreign affairs, finance, defense and
the navy, the State Department said.
Key topics include border security, law
enforcement operation and trade, according to
a State Department statement.
– Increased automatic expulsion –
The new rules make it easier for ICE and CBP
officials to automatically expel undocumented
immigrants. Kelly said the mass detentions of
the past, requiring judicial review, have
overburdened the government.
“The surge of illegal immigration at the
southern border has overwhelmed federal
agencies and resources and has created a
significant national security vulnerability to the
United States,” he said in one of the memos.
“Thousands of aliens apprehended at the
border, placed in removal proceedings, and
released from custody have absconded and
failed to appear at their removal hearings.
Immigration courts are experiencing a historic
backlog of removal cases.”
Pro-immigrant groups condemned the memos
and threatened legal challenges.
“These memos confirm that the Trump
administration is willing to trample on due
process, human decency, the well-being of our
communities, and even protections for
vulnerable children, in pursuit of a hyper-
aggressive mass deportation policy,” said Omar
Jadwat, director of the Immigrants’ Rights
Project at the American Civil Liberties Union.
“However, President Trump does not have the
last word here — the courts and the public will
not allow this un-American dream to become
reality,” he said.
