The Trump administration has given Immigration and Customs Enforcement the power to quickly deport immigrants who were temporarily admitted under a Biden administration-era program, according to an internal government memo obtained by The New York Times. There is.
The memorandum, signed Thursday night by the acting secretary of Homeland Security, provides a roadmap for how to use broad powers long limited to encounters at the southern border to expedite the removal of migrants. will be provided to ICE authorities. It also appears to have given authorities the power to expel immigrants under two major programs during the Biden administration, which have previously allowed more than 1 million temporary admissions.
These programs, an app called CBP One that migrants can use to book appointments to enter the U.S., and efforts to admit certain migrants fleeing Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Haiti are key to the Biden administration’s interdiction efforts. It was a pillar. Prevent illegal entry by allowing certain legal routes. Immigration advocates also worried that the memo could also apply to Afghan and Ukrainian immigrants brought to the United States under another program.
The decision seeks to use every aspect of immigration enforcement to crack down on a system that President Trump has long argued has been abused, targeting not just those who sneakily crossed the border but even those who follow. It shows that you intend to do so. A previously authorized route.
It is also certain to increase anxiety among immigrants, many of whom are fleeing desperate situations, believe they are in the country legally, and are often in danger. They may be afraid of returning to their home country.
Both of former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s signature programs had come under heavy criticism from Republican lawmakers, including Trump administration officials, for promoting illegal immigration disguised as government programs. Migrants were given grants to stay in the country for up to two years under a temporary legal status known as “parole.” The memo appears to allow their deportation regardless of whether they have reached the end of their legal status or if there is still time left.
Since the beginning of 2023, a total of approximately 1.4 million immigrants have entered the country through the two programs.
A senior Department of Homeland Security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the effort was based on Trump’s belief that Biden’s immigration program was never legal and that immigrants in the country illegally should be quickly removed. He said there was.
Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff and the architect of Trump’s hardline immigration policies, has made it clear that he opposes both plans.
“Here’s an idea: Don’t fly millions of illegal aliens from failed states thousands of miles away into small towns in America’s heartland,” Miller wrote on social media in September. said.
News of the memo drew immediate criticism from immigrant advocates and former Biden officials.
Tom Jawetz, a senior attorney at the Biden administration’s Department of Homeland Security, said: “Not only does it raise serious legal concerns, it is an outrageous and unprecedented act of betrayal to target people for deportation who have acted within the rules.” ” he said.
Karen Tumlin, director of the immigrant advocacy group Justice Action Center, said the decision was a mistake. He said he believes the memo will also allow ICE officials to deport immigrants from Afghanistan and Ukraine.
“The American community has opened its hearts and homes to people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Afghanistan and Ukraine,” she said. “It is appalling to punish people who have done everything the government has asked of them, many of whom have U.S.-based sponsors, with this summary deportation process.”
Trump on Monday ordered the agency to halt the Biden administration-era program. The same day, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Benjamin C. Huffman released another memo ordering the phase-out of all such programs. On Tuesday, the administration expanded deportation powers.
On Thursday, Huffman provided additional guidance to officials on two important decisions and how they affect each other.
In his memo, he asked ICE officials to analyze immigrants that the agency “knows” are at risk for deportation under new expedited deportations that bypass immigration court, and to recommend deportations. He instructed them to consider whether it was possible. The memo suggests authorities are prioritizing migrants who have been in the country for more than a year but have not applied for asylum.
As part of that, the memo says authorities could decide to revoke parole, a form of temporary legal status, if necessary. Migrants brought under the two Biden administration-era programs, as well as other efforts involving Afghans and Ukrainians, remain in the country under that particular form of temporary status.
If the immigrant is already in formal deportation proceedings, which can take several years, ICE officials may move to terminate their case and place them in an expedited deportation program.
The memo also provides that ICE officers can target people who are in the country under a temporary program but have been in the country for more than two years for formal deportation proceedings. are.
The expedited deportation powers have already been challenged in federal court in Washington by the American Civil Liberties Union. The lawsuit filed Wednesday alleges the decision violates federal law.
“The Trump administration is using this illegal policy to accelerate its plans for mass deportation and tear communities apart,” ACLU attorney Anand Balakrishnan said in a statement. “Expanding expedited removals would give President Trump a cheat code to circumvent due process and the Constitution, and we are here to fight it again.”
