21 February 2017•Update: 22 February 2017
By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Tuesday released the blueprint for how it will enforce America's immigration laws under President Donald Trump.
In two memos, Secretary John Kelly outlined efforts to crack down on undocumented immigrants, including a ramping up of detentions and potential deportations that sees almost all Obama-era policies rolled back.
The directives greatly expand those who can be deported from the U.S. under "expedited removal" procedures to include those who cannot prove that they have lived continuously in the U.S. for two years.
Previously, only those apprehended within 100 miles of the U.S. border and were in the U.S. for less than two weeks were eligible for the practice.
Efforts will now prioritize for deportation those living in the U.S. who have been charged or convicted of a crime, or "in the judgment of an immigration officer, otherwise pose a risk to public safety or national security".
One exception remains, however: undocumented persons who were brought to the country illegally as children will still be afforded leniency as they await a court case on their immigration status. But parents or others who helped bring them to the U.S. could still face criminal proceedings and deportation.
"Regardless of the desires for family reunification, or conditions in other countries, the smuggling or trafficking of alien children is intolerable," Kelly said in one of the memos.
In recent years, the U.S. has seen a dramatic uptick in the number of those attempting to flee violence in the Central American countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, including children.
Those countries have been plagued by a spike in gang violence that has ravaged communities.
"The surge of illegal immigration at the southern border has overwhelmed federal agencies and resources and has created a significant national security vulnerability to the United States," Kelly wrote.
U.S. Border Patrol apprehensions -- one metric of illegal immigration -- peaked in 2000. But Kelly pointed to an increase of 10,000-15,000 apprehensions per month last year compared to 2015, that ”significantly strained" department resources.
The new directives seem to be in line with more aggressive enforcement seen in recent weeks that have angered immigrant advocates and caused fear in the immigrant community.
But the White House strongly denied the new efforts are aimed at enforcing mass deportations.
"This is consistent with everything the president has talked about, which is prioritizing the people who are here, who represent a threat to public, who have a criminal record," spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters.
"The message from this White House and from the DHS is that those people who are in this country and pose a threat to our public, or have committed a crime, will be the first to go, and we will be aggressively making sure that that occurs," he said.
Additionally, Kelly said the Department of Customs and Border Patrol would "immediately begin planning, design, construction and maintenance of a wall" along the U.S.'s southern border with Mexico.
The barrier has been a major source of tension with Mexico, which Trump has said will foot the bill for its construction.
The wall is intended to "achieve operational control of the border," Kelly said, noting it would include lighting, sensors and other technologies as well as patrol and access roads.
Kelly's memos do not address Trump's attempted ban on U.S. entry for residents of seven Muslim-majority countries. The administration is currently re-working that effort after it was dealt a series of legal defeats in U.S. courts.
A new directive is expected this week.
