Even US citizens can be deported: the new immigration rule of the Trump administration puzzled lawyers

Aaron Hall, an immigration lawyer in Aurora, Colorado, is still not sure what to advise his clients about the new policy of the US Presidential Administration Donald Trump, which allows federal immigration agents to expedite the deportation of illegal immigrants whom they detained anywhere in USA.

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Over the past 15 years, the process of accelerated deportation has been used mainly by agents of the border service for illegal immigrants detained near the border. But this year, the right to apply accelerated deportation was first extended to agents of the Immigration and Customs Control Service (ICE). Now they can unilaterally interrogate, arrest and quickly deport illegal immigrants who have been in the United States for less than two years, and this applies to immigrants detained anywhere in the country, writes USA Today.

Does this mean that immigrants must have with them all documents confirming their legal status every time they leave their home? Should illegal immigrants carry documents proving that they have been in the country for more than two years? These questions still do not have a clear answer from lawyers.

“It's all really confusing. But one thing is certain: people who have legal immigration status or pending immigration applications, or even US citizens, may be subject to expedited removal proceedings, and some will even be deported before they can challenge the decision and prove their status " says Hall.

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The expansion of accelerated expulsion across the United States, which entered into force on July 23, may be one of the most important immigration law changes adopted by the Trump administration.

In the fight against illegal immigration, the White House focused mainly on the southern border of the United States, deploying the National Guard and the military there to counter what the president considers to be “a crisis and a threat to national security.” But the expansion of the territory for applying accelerated deportation moves law enforcement agencies far from the border to every locality in the United States.

This expansion raises many questions about how federal immigration agents will use their new credentials, how to limit racial profiling, and how many lawful and U.S. citizens will be involved in the deportation process.

ICE, which is responsible for arresting undocumented immigrants far from the nation's borders, said its agents do not and will not conduct "random" raids after expanding the ability to use expedited deportations. Instead, the agency said it will continue to conduct “targeted raids” to identify and arrest specific illegal immigrants. ICE vowed to use the new powers responsibly.

"ICE's normal targeted enforcement model remains the same," agency spokesman Richard Rocha said.

Accelerated deportation was introduced by Congress in the 1996 year. This procedure allows federal immigration agents to circumvent the usual deportation system, which includes court hearings, appeals, and the final deportation order signed by the judge. The immigration agent needs only the approval of the local supervisor, and the decision cannot be appealed to any court.

On the subject: Immediately and without trial: the Trump administration tightened the rules for the deportation of immigrants

The Accelerated Deportation Act provides an exception for illegal immigrants who have sought asylum in the United States. As soon as an illegal immigrant declares that he has reason to be afraid of returning to his homeland, the immigration agent must suspend the deportation process until the asylum officer interviews the illegal immigrant.

At first, the program had very limited use. President Bill Clinton only allowed it to be used against people who entered ports of entry to the United States without a visa or valid travel documents.

In 2004, President George W. Bush expanded its use to include people detained within 100 miles (160 km) from the U.S. land borders with Canada and Mexico, as well as people who illegally entered the country during the last two weeks before being detained. President Barack Obama has retained this structure.

From the early days of Trump's presidency, his administration saw in accelerated deportation a way to close the backlog of cases before the immigration courts and quickly expel more illegal immigrants from the country.

As a result, the Department of Homeland Security issued a decree that federal immigration agents could use expedited deportation for people detained anywhere in the country if they arrived in the United States over the previous two years.

Immigration lawyers and even some government officials fear that granting ICE agents the authority to unilaterally deport people from the country could lead to serious problems.

One major concern is that federal agents will mistakenly detain people living in the U.S. legally—citizens, permanent residents, or visa holders.

This is exactly what happened in June when 17-year-old Francisco Erwin Galicia, who was born in Dallas (Texas), was arrested by agents of the border patrol. Although his lawyer said that Galicia had a Texas resident ID and a copy of his birth certificate, immigration agents kept him in prison for 26 days. And this is not the only case.

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In the final year of Obama's presidency, ICE agents interrogated 5 940 US citizens, according to government data from the American Immigration Council. In the first year of Trump's presidency, ICE agents interrogated 27 540 US citizens, which is almost five times more. The detention of some of these people lasted several days.

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, established by Congress, has been investigating accelerated deportation for more than a decade. Her first study, published in 2005, found that the “alarming” number of border patrol agents violated the rules for accelerated deportation.

In some cases, agents did not ask if illegal immigrants were afraid to return to their homeland, which is a legally binding step in accelerated expulsion. In other cases, commission observers heard that immigrants sought asylum, but border patrol agents indicated in the documents that such a request had not been voiced.

Overall, according to the report, 15% of illegal asylum seekers were deported prior to the asylum trial. The Commission again reviewed the program in 2016, and came to the conclusion that these problems are still widespread.

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