The new Donald Trump administration is issuing a new round of measures that could rapidly deport immigrants who entered the United States through recently established legal pathways, according to an Internal Department of Homeland Security memo obtained Friday, January 24.
The directive signed by the acting homeland security secretary, Benjamine Huffman, grants Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officials unprecedented authority to expedite deportations for immigrants who entered the country with government authorization through two key Biden-era programs.
These programs, which have allowed more than a million immigrants to enter the country since 2023, have provided scheduling for migrants or asylum seekers through the government-run app CBP One or temporary legal status for up to two years through a parole program for certain countries.
The newly reported memo instructs Ice officials to identify and potentially rapidly deport immigrants who have been in the country for over a year and have not yet applied for asylum, in effect sidestepping traditional immigration court proceedings.
As the report spread, Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, posted on X on Friday: “Deportation flights have begun,” accompanied by official pictures of people boarding a military-style aircraft.
Despite such flights being routine under successive administrations, the White House has shared images of the ICE actions and also deployed troops to the US-Mexico border late on Thursday, including US marines arriving in California.
A DHS spokesperson defended the new policies, writing in a statement that “Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest,” and that the administration “trusts law enforcement to use common sense”.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has already challenged the policy in federal court, with the senior staff attorney Anand Balakrishnan characterizing the approach as a “mass deportation agenda” that circumvents constitutional due process.
Thousands who had received or were waiting for CBP One appointments south of the border were left devastated this week after the app was abruptly shut down moments after Trump was sworn in, while those already in the country using the app and who were preparing to apply for asylum may now be in the line of fire.
Later on Friday, the Trump administration followed up, announcing that it was expanding a fast-track deportation authority nationwide, allowing immigration officers to deport people without appearing before a judge.
The administration said it was expanding the use of “expedited removal” authority so it could be used across the country, in a notice in the Federal Register outlining the new rules.
“Expedited removal” gives enforcement agencies broad authority to deport people without requiring them to appear before an immigration judge. There are limited exceptions, including if they express fear of returning home and pass an initial screening interview for asylum.
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