23 Jul Trump to deport undocumented immigrants with less than two years residence.
By Atty. Crispin Caday Lozano
On July 22, 2019, the Trump administration has finalized a plan to bypass immigration courts and deport undocumented immigrants who cannot prove they’ve been present continuously in the U.S. for two years or more, according to an announcement Monday.
The Department of Homeland Security will publish a notice in the Federal Register Tuesday that aims to use the department’s full statutory authority to employ “expedited removal” to a wider range of undocumented immigrants who cross the border illegally.
The expansion is the latest move in President Donald Trump’s crackdown on legal and illegal immigration. Last week, the administration published a regulation that will bar migrants who pass through another country en route to the U.S. from seeking asylum. The POLITICO news also reported Thursday that an administration official last week pressed to lower the annual refugee admission ceiling to zero, although those deliberations remain ongoing.
The hard-line measures come as Trump appears poised to make immigration a focus of his 2020 reelection campaign.
The expansion of expedited removal could give the administration another tool to swiftly deport people who lack legal status.
A 2004 regulatory change currently limits expedited removal to immigrants who were arrested within 14 days of arrival and caught within 100 miles of a U.S. land border. However, the 1996 statute that created the process allows the speedy removal of people who cannot prove at least two years of continuous presence in the U.S.
The notice set to publish Tuesday will allow the use of the faster process against people caught anywhere in the U.S., not just within the 100-mile border zone.
The expansion of expedited removal could enable federal immigration officers to arrest and deport more migrants without adding to an already lengthy immigration court backlog. The courts have a soaring backlog that’s now approaching 1 million cases, according to data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University.
DHS contends the broader application of the speedy removal process will alleviate strain on federal immigration detention centers.
The average time in custody for immigrants processed through expedited removal was roughly 11 days in fiscal 2018, according to data included in an advance Federal Register notice published Monday. For immigrants in full removal proceedings, the time in custody averaged 52 days.
As of July 6, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had nearly 53,000 people in custody, up from an average population of roughly 34,000 in fiscal 2016, the last full year under former President Barack Obama.
The change rolled out Monday could eliminate the ability of thousands of immigrants to contest their removal before an immigration judge. ICE encountered at least 20,570 people in the interior in fiscal 2018 who would be subject to the broader expedited process, according to the notice.
A 2017 report by the San Francisco-based Immigrant Legal Resource Center estimated roughly 328,000 undocumented immigrants would be subject to expedited removal under the parameters put forth in the broad expansion Monday. The estimate excluded migrants likely to receive relief through the asylum system, although the Trump administration also has sought to restrict asylum benefits since the report’s publication.
The new policy will become effective Tuesday upon publication in the Federal Register, with a 60-day public comment period to follow. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in March that asylum seekers have the right to seek federal judicial review of an expedited removal order. The ruling conflicted with a 2016 decision by a separate federal appeals court.
SUCCESS STORIES
- For June 2019, we received approvals of four adjustment of status, six naturalization applications and two certificate of citizenship applications, and one Removal of condition on resident.
- On May 6, 2019, we received approvals of three adjustment of status applications and two Naturalization applications.
- On April 24, 2019, we received approval from USCIS for three naturalization applications and one adjustment of status.
- On March 29, 2019, we received an approval of adjustment of status for a client whose petitioner and primary beneficiary has died under INA 204(l)
- On March 28, 2019, we received an approval of renewal of green card for a client who was in the Philippines under medical treatment for one and a half years.
- From March 4 to 26, 2019, we received six adjustment of status approvals.
- For the month of February, 2019, we received tow approvals of renewal of green card and one approval of removal of condition on residence.
- On January 16, 2019, we received an approval of naturalization for a client who received a waiver of misrepresentation in Immigration Court.
- On January 28, 2019 we received an approval of adjustment of status for a client who entered on a visa waiver.
If you have immigration problems the Law Offices of Crispin C. Lozano can help you find a solution before your problem gets worse which could lead to deportation and family separation.
Crispin Caday Lozano, Esq. is an active member of the State Bar of California, the American Immigration Lawyers Association and San Francisco Trial Lawyers. He practices immigration law, bankruptcy and personal injury law since June 1999. His contact phone is 1-877-456-9266, email: info@CCLlaw.net