President Donald Trump has issued orders to recruit 10,000 people as immigration and customs officers, and his intention is to speed up the process of deportation of unauthorized immigrants. However, observers feel that hasty action could create more problems in the form of induction of rogue agents who could get involved in unfair practices like abusing the immigrants.
New York Times reports that John F. Kelly, the Homeland Security secretary, has asked ICE to expedite the hiring of agents and officers and has also indicated that the process would not be compromised.
It is customary for agents and deportation officers to undergo security checks and full background investigations prior to appointment. Subsequently, there are re-investigations at intervals of every five or 10 years depending on how sensitive position is.
How the deportees are treated
Those who are entrusted with the responsibility deportation must be honest, and their integrity should be beyond doubt. However, agency documents and court records reveal that there have been instances in the past where agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement ICE have resorted to various types of crimes and misdeeds. These include beating up the people, smuggling drugs into detention centers, having sex with detainees and accepting bribes to delay or stop deportations or agree to remove official documents, for a price, from the files of immigrants awaiting deportation.
ICE has more than 20,000 people who man the outfit, and unscrupulous officials are very few in number but, in the opinion of former Homeland Security officials and human rights workers, the presence of a few bad officers can create problems because they hold power over a vulnerable population.
Future plan of action
John Roth, the inspector general of Department of Homeland Security, had, in February, expressed his opinion to Senate committee that it would be difficult for the agency to carry out the executive order because the existing methods, to track and process applicants, are inadequate.
He also added that his office was modifying the system so that bad elements are not inducted.
President Donald Trump has launched a multi-pronged attack to ensure that the United States will have people only of American origin. His actions are tuned to that frequency. He wants to see that illegal immigrants staying in the country are deported, illegal migrants trying to cross over into the United States are not allowed to enter, and ambitions of probable terrorists from Muslim dominated countries are thwarted before they enter America.
