Federal immigration officers in the US can now deport immigrants to countries other than their own, sometimes with only six hours’ notice, even if there’s no guarantee that the person will be safe in the country they’re deported to, a report by Wall Street Journal said. This update was shared in a memo from Todd M. Lyons, the acting head of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
What does the memo say?
The memo, issued on July 9, says a recent US Supreme Court ruling has allowed ICE to immediately begin using this new deportation method. It means people can now be sent to “alternative” countries, and not just their country of origin.
If the country receiving the immigrant has not promised to protect them from harm or torture, ICE will usually give the person 24 hours’ notice before deportation. But in urgent situations, that notice can be shortened to just six hours. If the country has officially said the person will be safe, and the US government believes that promise, then deportation can happen without any notice at all.
This kind of deportation, sending people to countries they are not citizens of, is not common. But with this new policy, immigration lawyers are warning that thousands of people who have lived in the US for years, even those with jobs and families, could now be at risk.
This new approach could mean people are sent to countries where they have no family, support, or even the ability to speak the language. Advocates say the change could deeply affect immigrant communities across the country.
Critics say US deportation policy puts lives in danger
Trina Realmuto, executive director of the National Immigration Litigation Alliance says that this new policy puts “thousands of lives at risk of persecution and torture.” Her group is leading a legal challenge in Massachusetts against the US government’s third-country deportation policy.
The lawsuit, filed in March, argues that the US is breaking federal law by sending immigrants to countries where they may be harmed or even killed, without giving them a proper chance to defend themselves, reported the WSJ. One example cited was a Guatemalan man who was deported to Mexico, where he was later kidnapped and raped.
In response to the lawsuit, US District Judge Brian Murphy had blocked the government from deporting immigrants without first giving them a “meaningful” chance to contest the removal. However, on June 23, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority temporarily lifted that block. The decision, issued in a brief and unsigned statement, did not include an explanation but allowed the government to resume third-country deportations.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor strongly disagreed with the ruling, the WSJ report added. In a sharply worded dissent joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, she warned that the decision could put many lives in danger. “In matters of life and death, it is best to proceed with caution,” she wrote. “In this case, the Government took the opposite approach.”