McClatchy, Washington Post, CNN, and Reuters are reporting on two immigration memos signed and circulated by DHS head John Kelly. The memos are dated yesterday.
Their status is unusual and uncertain, with the newspapers talking about a White House review, though they look to have already been released.
McClatchy has published one of the memos, and CNN another.
Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly has signed sweeping new guidelines that empower federal authorities to more aggressively detain and deport illegal immigrants inside the United States and at the border.
In a pair of memos, Kelly offered more detail on plans for the agency to hire thousands of additional enforcement agents, expand the pool of immigrants who are prioritized for removal, speed up deportation hearings and enlist local law enforcement to help make arrests.
The new directives would supersede nearly all of those issued under previous administrations, Kelly said, including measures from President Barack Obama aimed at focusing deportations exclusively on hardened criminals and those with terrorist ties.
Memos signed by DHS secretary describe sweeping new guidelines for deporting illegal immigrants, David Nakamura, Washington Post
Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly has drafted new orders to agency heads that would considerably expand the number of immigrants who could be detained and deported under new executive orders President Donald Trump signed last month.
Under the proposed orders, which were contained in two memorandums written for distribution to agency heads and dated Friday, hundreds of thousands more immigrants in the United States illegally would be subject to what’s known as expedited removal proceedings to quickly get them out of the country.
But a senior White House official said the memos were not yet final, that White House lawyers had objected to some of their provisions, and that while the memos were DHS’s “final cut” at implementing Trump’s orders, they had not yet received White House approval.
“The White House has the final say,” said the official, who declined to be identified by name.
The
border security guidance expands the use of "expedited removal" proceedings for unauthorized immigrants, allowing them to be deported more quickly with limited court proceedings.
In doing so, the memo allows for the quick removal of immigrants who cannot prove they were in the US continuously for two years before being apprehended and determined to be unauthorized.
Previously, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection had used "expedited removal" only for immigrants caught within 100 miles of the border within 14 days of entering the US or by those who arrived by sea but not at a port of entry.
The border security guidance also expands upon ending the so-called "catch-and-release" policies that allow individuals to be paroled from detention while awaiting immigration court proceedings, which can take years. The memo orders a surge in immigration judges and detention facilities to accommodate the holding of these individuals and lays out high thresholds for people to be released pending immigration proceedings.
The memo gives room to tighten the standard for meeting the initial "credible fear" test for immigrants to be considered for asylum in the US, a threshold that tens of thousands of asylum seekers now meet each year.
Two sources familiar with the plans told Reuters the documents have been approved by Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly, but are under final review by the White House. They are expected to be released to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) early next week.
Under the orders, hundreds of thousands of people would face expedited removal proceedings, including those that had not been prioritized for deportation under former President Barack Obama.
Two leaked memos reveal Trump administration to expand which immigrants targeted for deportation, Julia Edwards Ainsley and Diane Bartz, Reuters