It has now become a harsh reality for thousands – perhaps millions – of immigrants in the United States that the pledge to conduct mass deportations was not an empty rhetoric by President Donald Trump.
In just two days after he was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States, Trump appears set to kickstart US mass deportations. Already, the president of the US has shut down an asylum system that immigrants camping along the southern border were using.
At the same time, Trump’s new government has stated that there is a likelihood that over 10,000 military officers shall be sent to the southern border to ensure that there are no more crossings by immigrants from the Mexican side and into the United States.
According to a related report that appeared in the New York Times, the new government has expanded the authority of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers – popularly known as ICE. As a result, ICE officers shall now be required to quickly remove undocumented immigrants from the country, the New York Times report stated.
Under the new policy that is known as expedited removal, ICE will be able to deport unauthorized immigrants without taking them through court proceedings.
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Previously, illegal immigrants who were picked up in the US were given a notice to appear in immigration court where they could make their case to stay in the country. A related report by CBS News stated that previously, federal immigration officials were only allowed to use expedited removal on illegal immigrants who were being detained within 100 miles of an international border and who had been in the US for less than two weeks.
“These expedited deportations will [now] apply to unauthorized immigrants anywhere in the US who can’t prove they have been in the country for more than two years. The move by the Department of Homeland Security revived a first Trump administration policy that the Biden administration had discontinued. It took effect at on Tuesday,” the CBS News reported.
