On Saturday, the Department of Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly signed two memos which expand the guidelines for Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to detain and deport illegal aliens. The memos, which are linked on the Washington Post website, indicate the expansion of the deportation of undocumented immigrants who were not previously prioritized under the Obama administration.
Hiring 10,000 officers
This expansion of deportation, mentioned in the DHC memos signed by Secretary Kelly, include undocumented aliens who are charged with a crime whether they are convicted or not, and parents of undocumented children.
The memos further indicate the fast tracking of deportation hearings and the order for government agencies to work with local law enforcement to help with the increased scale of deportation. Kelly states in the memos that he has ordered ICE to hire 10,000 additional officers and agents to help with the detaining and deportation of illegal aliens.
Rescinding Privacy Rights
According to the memos, "The Department will no longer afford Privacy Act rights and protections to persons who are neither U.S. citizens nor lawful permanent residents." This rule pertains to the DHS Privacy Policy Guidance Memorandum dated January 7, 2009, which provides that all DHS record systems were subject to the Privacy Act despite the person's immigration status.
The memo directs the DHS Privacy Office to develop new guidelines around the treatment of personal information in their record systems. These measures, according to the memos, are to allow for the collection of data of illegal aliens detained by ICE to help analyze statistical data which will be shared via regular weekly reports to the U.S.
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Investigating sources of aid to Mexico
Kelly's indicates in the memos that President Trump requested the heads of all executive departments to "identify and quantify all sources of direct and indirect Federal aid or assistance to the Government of Mexico" for the past five fiscal years, excluding intelligence activities.
The Secretary of Management is required to submit a report to Kelly with this data within 30 days of the memorandum. The memo does not indicate what the data will be used for.
Funding the Border Wall
Congress has authorized the construction of the wall between the U.S. and Mexico, the memo states. The planning, designing, and construction will begin immediately using appropriate materials and technology that will most efficiently achieve security control of the border. The memo further says that border immigration officers can, after determining if arriving aliens are inadmissible, order for the removal of illegal aliens from the United States without providing them with a further hearing or review.
These new rules would allow border immigration officers to immediately return undocumented Mexicans who are caught at the border back to Mexico pending the outcomes of their deportation hearings instead of detaining them in the United States. This rule would help reduce the growing costs of detaining illegal immigrants.
Unaccompanied minors
The new guidelines also aim to reduce the number of unaccompanied children arriving from Mexico and Central America which has grown in the hundreds of thousands in the last three years. Under the new rules, parents of these undocumented children who live in the United States can be detained and deported if they brought their children across the border illegally.
Under review by the White House
According to the Washington Post, an anonymous White House official said that the memos were drafts and under consideration by the White House Counsel’s Office. The official had declined to provide any further information.
