The administration of Donald Trump has issued a new round of measures that could deport immigrants that entered the United States through recently established legal pathways, according to an Internal Department of Homeland Security memo obtained recently.
The directive was signed by the acting homeland security secretary, Benjamine Huffman and it grants Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officials unprecedented authority to carry out deportations for immigrants who entered the country with government authorization through two major Biden-era programs.
These programs, which have permitted over a million immigrants to enter the U.S. since 2023, have offered scheduling for migrants or asylum seekers through the government-run app CBP One or temporary legal status for up to two years through a parole program for some countries.
The newly reported memo instructs officials of ICE to identify and potentially rapidly deport immigrants who have been in the country for over one year and have not applied for asylum.
As the report gains more attention, Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, took to her X page and posted: “Deportation flights have begun,” accompanied by official pictures of people boarding a military-style aircraft.
Though such flights are routine under successive administrations, the White House has posted images of the ICE actions and also sent troops to the US-Mexico border, including US marines arriving in California.
A spokesperson of DHS defended the new policies and wrote in a statement that “Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest,” and that the administration “trusts law enforcement to use common sense”.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has challenged the policy in federal court, with the senior staff attorney Anand Balakrishnan describing the approach as a “mass deportation agenda” that circumvents constitutional due process.
Thousands who had received or were waiting for CBP One appointments south of the border were left in shock after the app was shut down moments after Trump was sworn in, while those already in the country using the app and who were preparing to apply for asylum may now be in the deportation line.
The Trump administration later followed up and announced it was expanding a fast-track deportation authority nationwide, allowing immigration officers to deport people without appearing in a court.
In a notice outlining the new rules in the Federal Register, the administration said it was expanding the use of “expedited removal” authority so it could be used across the country.
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