New ICE memo sparks migrant race against time
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Illegal immigrants could be given as little as six hours notice before they are deported to a country other than their homeland, according to a new memo. Todd Lyons, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and a top Trump administration lieutenant, issued a directive to agency staff on Wednesday, July 9, outlining the direction of deportations moving forward.
He said migrants could be deported to a 'third country' with as little as six hours notice 'in exigent circumstances' – so long as the person had been given an opportunity to speak with an attorney. Generally, an immigrant will be given 24 hours notice before they are sent to a country other than their homeland. The memo states that migrants could be sent to nations that have pledged not to persecute or torture them 'without the need for further procedures.'
The United States has sent hundreds of migrants to Costa Rica, El Salvador and Panama, while South Sudan recently accepted eight third–country deportees. These deportees were from Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Myanmar, Sudan and Vietnam. Rwanda is reportedly in talks to begin accepting third–country deportees, but human rights advocates have raised concerns over sending migrants to countries where they have no ties or that may have a history of rights violations . The administration last week urged officials from five African nations – Liberia, Senegal, Guinea–Bissau, Mauritania and Gabon – to accept deportees.
The Supreme Court in June lifted a lower court's order limiting such deportations without a screening for fear of persecution in the destination country. The administration argues the third country deportations will help swiftly remove migrants who should not be in the US, including those with criminal convictions. Trina Realmuto, a lawyer for a group of migrants pursuing a class action lawsuit against rapid third–county deportations, said the policy 'falls far short of providing the statutory and due process protections that the law requires.'
During Trump's 2017–2021 presidency, his administratio n deported small numbers of people from El Salvador and Honduras to Guatemala. Former President Joe Biden similarly struck a deal with Mexico to take thousands of migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, since it was difficult to deport migrants to those nations.
Two months ago, a Venezuelan woman broke her silence about being stranded in Mexico after she was arrested by ICE agents outside of her home in Florida. The woman, who asked not to be named to avoid more legal trouble, said she and others in her position were lied to by American and Mexican authorities, who both refused to give the migrants back their passports from their countries of origin. She said men, women and children were dumped onto the streets of cartel–controlled cities without money, IDs and even cell phones.
'We were terrified after we were told we could be kidnapped or forced into working for them,' she said. The South American mother lived in Florida for the last 20 years with her husband and three sons – two of which are US citizens. In 2013, she lost her legal case in immigration court and was ordered out of America. She remained in the US, despite the final deportation – which means she had exhausted all legal pathways. 'When Donald Trump won the presidency, I did begin to get nervous, knowing I had a deportation order, but I never thought I'd end up in Mexico,' she told DailyMail.com in a phone interview from Mexico City. In March, less than two months after Trump returned to office, ICE tracked her down after seven years of evading authorities.
'I was leaving my house one morning with my husband. They were parked next to me on the street, in an unmarked car, no sign it was them,' she said. 'They said come with us. You're under arrest.' She was held in federal immigration detentions centers in Florida for about a week, and was told at the time she would be sent to Mexico. The migrant said she contacted her lawyer, but was told there was nothing that could be done.
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