The Government of Joe Biden sent a memorandum this Sunday to the prosecutors of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE, for its acronym in English) by which it
authorizes them to dismiss the cases filed
against undocumented immigrants who have been in the country for a long time and do not pose a threat to public safety.
This measure could affect (if ICE prosecutors agree to act in this way)
hundreds of thousands of people
with pending deportation cases, and thus alleviate the collapse of the immigration courts, which accumulate 1.7 million pending files, which that lengthens the wait for immigrants for years.
The memorandum, reported by BuzzFeed News and The New York Times, directs ICE attorneys to review pending cases and try to close those they deem to be of low priority in accordance with new guidelines established by the government.
This is how the new rules for requesting asylum and the deportations associated with these will work
March 24, 202201:50
The American Association of Immigration Lawyers estimates that it could affect 700,000 files, according to the aforementioned newspaper.
“ICE focuses its immigration enforcement priorities on the detention and removal of non-citizens who
pose a threat to our national security, public safety, and border security
, doing so in a manner consistent with legal requirements and U.S. law enforcement orders. cuts,” an agency spokesperson told BuzzFeed News.
The collapse in the courts has led to immigrants having to wait years to have their cases resolved.
Experts point out that some of the causes were the coronavirus pandemic, which limited and delayed procedures, the greater opening of cases during the Administration of former President Donald Trump, and an increase in 2019 in the number of families crossing the border in search of asylum. in the country.
The Biden government implements this new guide, moreover, when a new uptick in border crossings is expected due to the decision to eliminate Title 42 on May 23.
It is a rule that has allowed migrant families to be expelled without having the right to request asylum with the argument of stopping the spread of the coronavirus.