Immigration Reform News 2017: Expedited Deportation to Be Strengthened During Trump's Administration
The US Department of Homeland Security is currently contemplating on a new policy that will allow expedited deportation of undocumented immigrants under the Trump administration.
The country's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was already granted the power to expedite the deportation of any illegal immigrant who is detained in the U.S. for less than two years under the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. But it was modified during the time of President George W. Bush, where only those who are imprisoned inside the 100 miles of the country's border and are caught not more than 14 days after their arrival in the U.S.
If the proposal presented by President Donald Trump's staff will take effect, the number of days indicated in Bush's policy will be expanded. This means that the ICE will be able to deport undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. for up to 90 consecutive days.
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According to reports, the U.S. government will be able to lessen the growing number of cases filed in immigration courts significantly with the help of expedited deportations. At the moment, there are 534,000 pending cases filed against illegal immigrants at the start of 2017 alone. This means that the US Department of Homeland Security will be able to save its resources for detaining or monitoring the cases of undocumented aliens who are waiting for their court date.
On the other hand, the U.S. immigration authorities managed to sign a deal with 18 out of the 254 counties in Texas to expand the program that will let the detention officers at local sheriff offices work with federal authorities in enforcing the immigration laws.
The deal, which was made valid after a sheriffs' meeting that was held in Dallas, was created to chase after the "sanctuary cities" where illegal immigrants hide.
According to a statement from the ICE Director Thomas Homan, "There's no doubt that arresting removable aliens in a jail is safer for the officers, safer for the community and even safer for the alien himself."
Trump's administration is expected to strengthen its policies regarding the illegal immigration in the country.
