Trump Deporting 530,000 Legal Immigrants, Shuttering DHS Due Process Offices
Then process gets in the way of efficiency, kill the process.
CBS News (“U.S. to revoke legal status of more than a half-million migrants, urges them to self deport“):
The Trump administration will be revoking the legal status of hundreds of thousands of Latin American and Haitian migrants welcomed into the U.S. under a Biden-era sponsorship process, urging them to self-deport or face arrest and removal by deportation agents.
The termination of their work permits and deportation protections under an immigration authority known as parole will take effect in late April, 30 days after March 25, according to a notice posted by the federal government.
The move will affect immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela who flew to the U.S. under a Biden administration program, known as CHNV, that was designed to reduce illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border by giving would-be migrants legal migration avenues.
A total of 532,000 migrants entered the U.S. under that policy, which was paused soon after President Trump took office, though it’s unclear how many have been able to secure another status that will allow them to stay in the country legally.
CBS News first reported in early February that the Trump administration was planning to revoke the legal status of individuals who entered the U.S. under the CHNV process.
The Department of Homeland Security said it will seek the arrest and deportation of those subject to the policy change if they fail to depart the U.S. in the next 30 days. Officials are urging migrants to use the newly repurposed CBP Home smartphone app to register for self-deportation.
But DHS said it retains the authority to target migrants who arrived under this program before the 30-day period lapses. Officials say those prioritized for arrest will include migrants who have failed to apply for another immigration benefit like asylum or a green card.
In a statement, DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said the migrants allowed into the U.S. under the CHNV process were “loosely vetted,” and argued the program undercut American workers.
“The termination of the CHNV parole programs, and the termination of parole for those who exploited it, is a return to common-sense policies, a return to public safety, and a return to America First,” McLaughlin added.
Reuters (“Trump revokes legal status for 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans“) adds:
Trump, a Republican, took steps to ramp up immigration enforcement after taking office, including a push to deport record numbers of migrants in the U.S. illegally. He has argued that the legal entry parole programs launched under his Democratic predecessor overstepped the boundaries of federal law and called for their termination in a January 20 executive order.
Trump said on March 6 that he would decide “very soon” whether to strip the parole status from some 240,000 Ukrainians who fled to the U.S. during the conflict with Russia. Trump’s remarks came in response to a Reuters report that said his administration planned to revoke the status for Ukrainians as soon as April.
Biden launched a parole entry program for Venezuelans in 2022 and expanded it to Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans in 2023 as his administration grappled with high levels of illegal immigration from those nationalities. Diplomatic and political relations between the four countries and the United States have been strained.
The new legal pathways came as Biden tried to clamp down on illegal crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border.
I haven’t studied the CHNV program enough to have a strong opinion on it, but 530,000 immigrants—especially immigrants that are neither eligible for asylum nor targeted for highly desirable skills—in such a short period is a lot at a time when public sentiment against such immigration is negative. Further, if we’re going to let in massive numbers of economic migrants to compete against low-skill American workers, it’s not obvious why we wouldn’t prioritize those from our neighbor and close trading partner, Mexico.
That said, whatever the merits of the program’s continuance, these 530,000 who are already here were invited in by the duly-elected President of the United States. So far as I’m aware, there has been no court decision that it exceeded his authority. Given that, upending their lives on short notice and deporting them seems like a cruel policy.
Stripping status from Ukrainians who fled a war zone is just sad. While they’re not entitled to asylum under international law, sheltering them is the right thing to do.
In related news, we have eliminated due process for immigration cases.
WaPo (“DHS shuts down internal watchdog agencies that advocated for immigrants“):
The Department of Homeland Security is eradicating three internal watchdog agencies that investigated complaints and advocated for immigrants, calling the watchdogs “roadblocks” to immigration enforcement, a spokeswoman said Friday.
The department has ordered a “reduction in force” for the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman and the Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman, essentially eliminating them, according to DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin. She alleged that the three offices “have obstructed immigration enforcement by adding bureaucratic hurdles and undermining DHS’s mission.”
Taken together, the agencies had about 300 employees, a small share of the estimated 260,000 workers at the DHS. They handled thousands of complaints about the immigration system, including detention conditions, the care of migrant children, and delays in processing green-card and citizenship applications. Their reports informed House and Senate oversight committees, and provided information to immigrants facing deportation in U.S. immigration courts who are not entitled to public defenders.
The Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties’ responsibility extended beyond immigration to the more than 20 agencies inside the DHS, investigating their responses to natural disasters, cyberthreats and terrorism — all issues that are far more likely to affect U.S. citizens. In one case, for instance, the office investigated a federal agent who mistreated a traveler in a wheelchair.
The dismantling of this oversight comes as the Trump administration has embraced aggressive and unconventional tactics to dramatically increase immigration enforcement to meet the president’s goal of deporting millions of undocumented immigrants. Since taking office, Trump officials have unilaterally expanded the government’s power to expel migrants without a court hearing, forcibly removed hundreds of immigrants to jails in El Salvador and the Guantánamo Bay naval station in Cuba, and conscripted other agencies to arrest immigrants despite their inexperience with immigration laws.
“It’s a big blow,” said John Roth, who served as DHS inspector general from 2014 until he retired in late 2017, the first year of Trump’s first term. “They are the first line of defense when it comes to oversight.”
Analysts say the three shuttered agencies are among the few remaining independent checks on a department that not only enforces immigration laws but also serves the American public by preventing terrorist attacks, mass shootings and other calamities. The closures are expected to face legal challenges, current and former employees said.
NYT (“Trump Shuts Down 3 Watchdog Agencies Overseeing Immigration Crackdown”) adds:
Mr. Trump has been trying to root out oversight mechanisms across government agencies, but targeting D.H.S. was notable given the lack of transparency over the crackdown.
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Homeland Security Department, said the decision was meant to “streamline oversight to remove roadblocks to enforcement.”
“These offices have obstructed immigration enforcement by adding bureaucratic hurdles and undermining D.H.S.’s mission,” Ms. McLaughlin said. “Rather than supporting law enforcement efforts, they often function as internal adversaries that slow down operations.”
Critics say it’s an attempt to sidestep any scrutiny.
“It’s a demonstration of their total contempt for any checks on their power,” said Deborah Fleischaker, a former civil rights office worker and chief of staff of Immigration and Customs Enforcement under the Biden administration. She said the office “endeavored to make the D.H.S. mission work with respect for civil rights, civil liberties and privacy.”
“This is a clear message that those things do not matter to this administration,” she added.
The Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and the two ombudsman offices, which were responsible for investigating allegations from migrants, their families and the public, have looked into Mr. Trump’s immigration policies over the years.
One such investigation during Mr. Trump’s first term investigated his use of the Remain in Mexico policy, which forced migrants to wait in Mexico until their court appearance.
The final report in 2021 found that the administration had placed unaccompanied children and people with mental health and other medical issues into the program. By the time the report was released, Mr. Trump was out of office and the program had been rescinded.
While there are reasonable debates to be had at where to balance efficiency and due process, the complete elimination of the latter would seem to push the limits.
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I fear it is well more than that. They aren’t interested in due process or oversight. And since, as per my post this morning, they are willing to send people to a prison in El Salvador, this demonstrates a willingness to terrorize immigrants, or just people who might be immigrants.
This is just escalation of using fear and violence as policy tools.
Here’s a good explainer about the program.
Like a lot of what were are seeing, what one president can give, another can take away.
And to be clear on my previous point: when your administration has just sent hundreds of people to indefinite imprisonment in El Salvador, and then you turn around and encourage people to self-deport or face arrest, you are sowing terror in that population.
@Steven L. Taylor: The understatement was intentional.
@Steven L. Taylor: Considering they’re deliberately and openly using that strategy on Federal civil servants, it’s hardly surprising that they’re using it against immigrants.
@James Joyner: Gotcha and indeed.
Personal epiphany,
Engaging in discussion with friends and kin reveals a lot about themselves.
Recent discussion with a friend about due process for immigrants resulted in an impasse when the response was “We don’t have time for that”, regardless of the Constitution.
Am I just really late to the realization that professing a “law and order for all “ ideology has limited application?
Way too many people have watched TV shows and think they are documentaries. They really believe that stuff like due process is bad as it stop the bad guys from getting punished. The rogue cop who ignores procedure and goes on to execute the bad guys is a trope that is ingrained into large parts of the American psyche. In this case the bad guys are the people responsible for so many of their problems (well, liberals too). I dont see many people being moved by these stories or caring about following our laws who hadn’t already decided they oppose Trump.
Steve
I will be sadly curious to see the impact of removing the CHNV program on cities like Springfield that were rebounding as a result of migrant communities.
@steve:
The appropriation of the term “common-sense” to describe callous disregard for due process is deftly Orwellian, dontcha think? Just another example of the simpleton’s view of American governance.
@Bobert:
I’ve long since come to understand that few people are deeply wed to principle if it gets in the way of achieving what they want. People will bend over backward defending actions of Presidents they like in pursuit of policies they like and then profess outrage when Presidents of the other party use the same tools in pursuit of policies they oppose. I’m sure I do it at the margins, but I’m generally a stickler for procedure.
When liberals under Obama or Biden defended things like allowing Dreamers to stay in the US, the invariable argument against it was “But they broke the law! If you want to let them stay, change the law. In the meantime, the law must be enforced.”
Yeah, we knew that was disingenuous at the time, but the shameless open hypocrisy today is nauseating.
Allow me to respond to both this and SLT’s post from this morning.
These things are just flat out wrong. Sinful, if you’re religious. They are not who we are, as a country. Even Reagan, who I personally think was evil, wouldn’t have considered this.
Still…
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Who’s going to do anything about it?
Earlier today I saw a clip of Joe Rogan talking about 600 meter deep foundations under the pyramids which proves that they weren’t built by humans. Utter bullshit. But with 14M followers on Spotify, 16M on YouTube, and 19M on Instagram, this is who is informing the young male electorate.
Let me say again, there is no one coming to save us.
@Daryl:
JFC. We’re doomed.
ETA: and the relevance to the post is that some people will believe just about anything, including that they are being saved by the deportation of legal immigrants.
@James Joyner:
This is so evident it has its own Kathy’s First Law: It’s wrong only when the other party does it.
However*, there’s a huge difference in doing such things with the purpose of helping people, versus employing such tools to hurt people.
*One of the most irritating terms in a debate, I know.
I think in recent times there were two developments that slowed down immigration to the US. One was the Great Recession of 2008-09, the other was the trump pandemic.
So, now we know why the plan is to wreck the economy and help H5N1 avian flu go viral.
@steve: That is why Internal Affairs are often portrayed as a villain or thorn in the cops’ side on procedural shows.
The immigrants may well have valid asylum cases. CHNV allowed people to enter the country and work, temporarily, while they pursue asylum or another legal permanent status. The asylum cases have simply not been fully processed.
So, don’t assume these people can safely self-deport back to where they were before. I recall Haiti had a barbecue problem recently. Venezuela has its own issues. Nicaragua has a lot of persecution of indigenous populations.
IIRC, one of the key questions in an asylum claim is “does this person have a reasonable fear for their safety if they return, from which their government will not protect them? And are they part of a targeted group?”
CHNV is an acknowledgement that a whole lot of people from C, H, N and V have very plausible claims to asylum.
And I’m honestly surprised the C is Cuba — I thought we loved Cubans who fled and demonstrated that life under communism was horrible.
Most of my information comes from half-remembered conversations with a friend who does translation in asylum cases, and a quick google search to confirm basics. That I am surprised that it’s Cuba and not Columbia speaks to the accuracy — it’s a semi-informed argument, better informed than most of the internet, but still…
@Gustopher:
Leopards and faces, leopards and faces. But yes, I’m sure the Cuban community is shocked, as for generations they have been considered the good, deserving immigrants by R’s.
@Jen:
People will believe just about anything so long as they don’t have to believe black and brown people created great works of architecture that have lasted thousands of years.
You can’t deny that the pyramids exist, and they must have been made by someone, and there’s no one around who could have done it*, so aliens or Lemuria.
*: Look at the shapes of their skulls! These people are clearly incapable!
ETA: Sadly Lemuria was not run by actual lemurs.
@Sleeping Dog:
One of the dirty secrets is there’s a big divide in the Cuban community between the early waves of refugees (who were mostly the deposed elites of the Batista regime) and the later waves (who were mostly desperate poor people), and as the later has grown in proportion over the years, the less the Republicans have cared about Cuban immigrants.
The Cubans the Republicans do care about are largely second and third generation natural born citizens with no actual link to the island of Cuba.
@Bobert: All I know is what you’ve said here. Given that little, I might have been tempted to ask, “where does your sense of urgency come from?” If it is someone you have a relationship, your curiosity about their fears might come off well. AND, if you let them say their fears out loud, they get to hear themselves and evaluate what they just said.
And this means that almost always they modulate. They pull back from the extreme claims. Not always, but frequently. Now an operative won’t do that. They won’t even be forthright about their fears. Maybe they don’t even have those fears, they are just trying to stoke them in other, more vulnerable people. (*cough* Steven Miller *cough*)
@Gustopher:
Are you sure? How do you know?