Making mass deportations faster
Yesterday, news broke that the Trump administration plans to use an 18th-century law to speed up their mass deportation plans.
I’ve written extensively about Trump’s plans for immigration. Today I thought I’d do a checkup and see what has come to pass, and what hasn’t.
In November, I said:
“Trump is going to be looking to rack up big wins shortly after inauguration. He has said he intends to start on day one of his presidency, so we should expect that while the inauguration is happening and teams of people are moving Biden out of the White House and Trump in, a stack of executive orders will be waiting for him on the desk in the Oval Office. One or more of those will be related to immigration.”
I was right.
On Inauguration Day, Trump issued a briefing saying that his administration would designate groups like Tren de Aragua as terrorist organizations. (Members of Tren de Aragua, a violent street gang from Venezuela, have been arrested in the US for murder, aggravated assault, and more.) The briefing also details ending the use of catch-and-release and a reinstatement of his Remain in Mexico policy.
Also in November, I said:
“Deportations will be carried out using the expedited removal process. Expedited removal gives low-level immigration officers the right to remove some undocumented immigrants without a hearing. (Yes, this means that many people will have no day in court.)”
This is also happening – as soon as today. Invoking the Alien Enemies Act hasn’t been done since we incarcerated more than 100,000 Japanese Americans and legal Japanese immigrants into camps during WWII, but as of this writing, sources say it could imminently go into effect.
The Alien Enemies Act of 1798 allows the president to target and remove immigrants (who are over the age of 14) under two circumstances: if a war is declared between the US and another nation or government, OR if there is an “invasion or predatory incursion” in America. Trump is planning on using the second scenario. It’s likely anyone from Venezuela — gang member or not — will be removed using this law.
If a person is ordered removed through the expedited process, the order cannot be appealed and the person is barred from trying to reenter the US for five years.
In November, I said: “People in the US under Temporary Protected Status are likely to have their protections revoked.”
This is happening.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has already announced the revocation of TPS status for people from Venezuela, and has told people from Haiti their TPS status will be ending sooner than planned.
I wrote: “They will examine what birthright citizenship might actually mean.”
This too is happening.
On Thursday, the Trump administration appealed their case regarding birthright citizenship to the Supreme Court, asking them to at least stop lower court judges from issuing nationwide injunctions. (Lower court judges have said that his executive order restricting birthright citizenship is unconstitutional and issued a nationwide ban on enforcing it.)
Here are some things I said that would happen that haven’t happened — yet:
– DACA remains in place
– We have yet to see the construction of new mass incarceration camps in TX
– The Trump Admin has yet to invoke the Insurrection Act, but there have been recent talks about it
And now, on to more of your questions from this week: