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After
680
arrested,
Trump’s
definition
of
deportable
‘Broad’
and
‘Vague’
Wendell
Bryant/Tell
Us USA
News
Elena
Shore/New
America
Media
DETROIT/SAN
FRANCISCO
- One of
President
Trump’s
executive
orders
on
immigration
dramatically
expanded
priorities
that
determine
who can
be
deported.
Immigrant
rights
advocates
and
attorneys
say that
under
the
expanded
definition,
nearly
any
undocumented
immigrant
could be
considered
a
target.
This
“reprioritization
–
non-prioritization
really”
– of who
is
deportable
is “one
of the
most
troubling
aspects
of
Trump’s
executive
order on
interior
enforcement,”
according
to
Melissa
Keaney,
staff
attorney
at the
National
Immigration
Law
Center (NILC).
Keaney,
who
spoke
during a
national
webinar
on
Trump’s
executive
order
signed
last
Wednesday,
said the
changes
to
deportation
priorities
go into
effect
immediately.
The
order
also
calls
for the
construction
of a
wall
along
the
U.S.-Mexico
border
and an
increase
in the
number
of
Border
Patrol
agents.
Who
is
deportable
Under
Obama,
certain
criminals
and
recent
arrivals
were
prioritized
for
deportation;
under
Trump,
the
definition
of
criminal
has been
expanded
so much
that it
can be
used to
target
almost
anyone.
Trump’s
new
priorities
for
deportation
include
anyone
who
initially
entered
the
United
States
without
documents;
anyone
with a
final
removal
order;
anyone
charged
with a
criminal
offense
where
the
charge
has not
been
resolved
(even if
the
charge
was
dropped);
and
anyone
who
“committed
acts
that
constitute
a
chargeable
offense”
(even if
they
were
never
charged).
The last
two
categories
are the
most
troubling,
said
Keaney,
and the
last
category
is “a
new
standard
that we
have
never
seen”
and one
that is
so vague
and
broad
that it
is
difficult
to know
how it
will be
enforced,
explained
Keaney,
noting
that it
has no
statute
of
limitations.
“I think
that
this is
one of
the most
concerning
aspects
of the
executive
order,
particularly
because
we’ve
seen in
the past
how this
lack of
prioritization
at the
federal
level
really
incentivizes
racial
profiling,”
she
said.
Trump
also
issued
an
executive
order to
withhold
federal
funding
from
sanctuary
cities.
The city
of San
Francisco
has
since
filed a
federal
lawsuit
against
President
Trump,
calling
his
executive
order
unconstitutional.
In
addition
to
expanding
the
definition
of who
is
deportable,
Trump
also
authorized
the
hiring
of
10,000
new ICE
officers,
representing
a
tripling
of the
agency’s
size,
and the
ramping
up of
the
287(g)
program,
which
allows
local
police
officers
to
become
immigration
officers,
and
reverts
from the
Priority
Enforcement
Program
(PEP)
back to
Secure
Communities.
Keaney
predicted
that we
may even
see a
return
of the
“task
force”
model,
in which
deputized
officers
act as
immigration
agents
on the
street,
not just
in the
jails.
The
fate of
DACA
One
question
that has
not been
settled
is what
the
Trump
administration
will do
about
Deferred
Action
for
Childhood
Arrivals
(DACA).
Trump
has not
made an
announcement
on the
executive
order
issued
by Obama
in 2012
that
allows
certain
undocumented
immigrants
brought
to the
country
as
children
to gain
temporary
protection
from
deportation
and
access
to a
work
permit.
That
program
remains
in place
currently.
One
scenario,
according
to a
leaked
draft
document
that has
not been
signed,
is that
the
Trump
administration
would
end the
program
but
allow
work
permits
to
expire
on their
own.
However,
the
administration
has also
made
statements
that
leave
the door
open for
not
targeting
DACA
recipients
for
deportation.
They
also
signaled
last
week
that it
may take
them up
to four
weeks to
decide
on what
to do
about
DACA.
In the
meantime,
immigration
experts
are
encouraging
anyone
considering
applying
for or
renewing
DACA to
consult
with a
qualified
immigration
lawyer
or Board
of
Immigration
Appeals
(BIA)
accredited
representative.
According
to
another
leaked
draft
document
that
also has
not been
signed,
noncitizens
applying
for
public
benefits
could be
subject
to
deportation
(even if
they are
legal
immigrants
with
visas).
“If the
leaked
draft is
signed,
the
changes
proposed
would be
breathtakingly
extreme,
and it
would
alter
dramatically
immigration
policies
and
practices
around
public
charge
that
have
been in
effect
basically
for a
century,
and
public
benefits
policies
and
practices
that
have
been in
effect
for
decades,”
said
Jenny
Rejeske,
health
policy
analyst
at NILC.
If it is
signed,
she
said,
the
changes
would
not go
into
effect
immediately,
and
would be
subject
to
notice
and
public
comment.
In the
meantime,
she
said,
“We need
to be
preparing
to push
back
against
the
proposed
changes
by
documenting
the
importance
of
government
programs
to our
community’s
health
and well
being.”
For now,
advocates
are
urging
immigrants
and
their
allies
to show
up to
public
actions,
and to
call
their
two U.S.
Senators
and
their
member
of
Congress
to voice
their
opposition
to
Trump’s
executive
orders
on
immigration.
“Where
people
have
Republican
legislators,
this is
a really
important
way for
them to
… know
that
their
entire
constituency
is not
behind
them… in
their
targeting
of
immigrants
and
refugees,”
said
Zahra
Billoo,
executive
director
of
Council
on
American-Islamic
Relations
(CAIR)
in San
Francisco.
“And
where
they
have
Democratic
legislators,”
she
said,
“it’s
important
that
we’re
giving
them the
political
cover
not just
to be
mild or
moderate
on
opposing
Trump,
his
nominations
and his
efforts,
but
actually
to be
courageous.”
For
information
on what
to do if
you are
stopped
by ICE,
go to:
https://www.nilc.org/get-involved/community-education-resources/know-your-rights/.
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