By Damià Bonmatí - Telemundo Investiga News
Gustavo, an immigrant living in Los Angeles, was disappointed to hear about the new policy of the Immigration and Customs Service (ICE): “It's hard and stiff because I just arrived and they are going to take us out.
You have to be careful and feel like it, "he said in an interview with Noticias Telemundo.
This undocumented immigrant
has been in the United States for less than two years and does not have an open process in immigration court
.
This is the profile of foreigners affected by expedited
removals
that ICE began to apply for days and that the agency confirmed this Tuesday in a statement to the media.
The new directive allows ICE agents to
initiate rapid deportation processes without the need to see an immigration judge and anywhere in the country
, as Noticias Telemundo published a week ago and reported earlier by Buzzfeed.
With what documents do I prove that I have been in the US for two years and am avoiding express deportation?
Oct. 15, 202001: 05
The immigration lawyers consulted warn that these new powers will allow more people to be detained and deported faster.
The expulsion can be executed in a matter of hours or days, according to experts.
Asked about the speed of the deportations, an ICE spokesperson limited himself to saying that each case is assessed individually.
[This immigrant was removed without a deportation order. ICE admits it was a mistake]
Only a portion of undocumented immigrants can be affected.
According to ICE, these situations must be met to be subject to express deportation:
Immigrants with little time in the United States.
The rule affects those who entered the United States illegally two years ago or less than that.
The ICE statement says that it will be immigrants who "cannot affirmatively demonstrate to the immigration officer that they have been physically present in the United States continuously for a period of two years immediately after the determination of inadmissibility."
Immigrants without an immigration process in court.
In addition to having been in the country for a short time, they are immigrants who were not processed by the Border Patrol or ICE, nor have they been given a
parole
, and therefore do not have an open case in court. immigration.
Those foreigners who have an open process in an immigration court
are
excluded
from express deportations
.
One key, according to some attorneys, is having a notice to appear before a judge under your control.
The document should say
notice of appear
and that should protect them from this new ICE policy.
[The Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service formalizes express deportation plan]
A senior ICE official who is serving as director, Tony Pham, said this new policy "will allow us to protect our communities and preserve the integrity of our immigration laws passed by Congress."
Since when does it apply
ICE agents conducted a training course to begin using their new powers and had until Friday, October 16, to complete it.
Since then, they already have the ability to apply this new policy, according to a spokesperson for the agency to Noticias Telemundo.
Rapid deportations are not new or unknown, but from now on
they can occur anywhere in the country
.
Since 1996, when the United States Congress approved that deportation option, the United States Government had implemented express expulsions only in very limited cases, for example, immigrants who entered in the last 14 days and are within 100 miles from the border.
ICE officers detain a man in Escondido, California.AP
But in 2019, the Trump administration, which has tightened immigration policies, wanted to extend these expulsions to the entire country and also apply them to foreigners who have been in the United States for less than two years.
Several entities brought this policy to court, which a judge temporarily suspended.
Since late September 2020, when a District of Columbia appeals court reversed course on the case, the government can legally reapply that policy.
The only option left to the plaintiffs is to turn to the highest legal authority in the country, the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile,
express deportations are an option that ICE can apply when it deems necessary
.
How it will affect the undocumented
Those who demonstrate against this policy warn that the rights of certain undocumented immigrants will be reduced and will be left to the discretion of each immigration agent.
[Deportation of undocumented immigrants sparks protests at Indiana airport]
"This gives less opportunities for the immigrant to see a judge and allows immigration officials to issue a deportation order
without having to go before a neutral and independent judge
to ensure that they are following the law," Aaron told Noticias Telemundo. Reichlin-Melnick, an immigration advisor at the American Immigration Council, one of the organizations that has denounced this policy in court.
Two attorneys from the National Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) told Noticias Telemundo that
stopping an expedited removal is much more complicated
than a standard deportation, which needs to be ordered by a judge.
What the lawyers recommend
According to Telemundo's immigration lawyer, Alma Rosa Nieto, “those who are less than two years old [in the country] should seek advice to see if they have any alternative to emigrate: some are eligible for a visa or political asylum or have a family member who you can ask for them ”.
What does ICE's new express deportation policy mean for the immigrant community?
Oct. 14, 202001: 17
For those who have been in the country longer, Nieto recommends
leaving documents and evidence with someone you trust to prove their stay in the United States
in case they were arrested by ICE.
Some attorneys doubt how ICE will apply this policy and, above all, how it will check how long the immigrant has been in the country.
[A family denounces the express deportation of one of their members in California]
President Donald Trump promised in 2016 to increase deportations in the United States but has struggled to speed up those processes.
A bottleneck was found in the immigration courts: there are more than a million cases pending resolution, according to official data obtained by the TRAC center of Syracuse University.
Under this policy, the Government can avoid immigration judges in certain cases.
The correspondent
Francisco Cuevas
contributed to this note.
If you are affected by this policy, you can confidentially contact the author of the news by email:
damia.bonmati@nbcuni.com
