WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES. – The new president of the United States, Joe Biden, he has hundreds of immigrants deported in his early days, despite his campaign promise that he would stop deporting most of the people who have been illegally in the United States since the beginning of his tenure.
A federal judge ordered the Biden government a few days ago not to institute a moratorium 100 days until deportations, but the ruling did not require the government to program them.
In recent weeks, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) has deported 15 immigrants to Jamaica, 269 to Guatemala, and 131 to Honduras. While there will be more deportation flights this week.
READ ALSO: ‘Coyotes’ use Biden to call people to emigrate
It is not known how many of those people are considered a threat to national security or public safety, or who have recently crossed the border illegally, issues considered a priority under new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) guidelines . Which came into effect on Monday.
Some returnees could have been deported – a process quicker than deportation – on the basis of a public health order issued by the former president Donald Trump invoked during the pandemic of coronavirus and that Biden has kept despite his promises.
More than deported, deported
In the border town of El Paso, Texas, immigration authorities on Friday deported a woman who witnessed the massacre of 23 people at a Walmart in 2019. She had agreed to testify against the attacker and met with local prosecutors, his lawyers. .
ALSO: US to migrants: don’t reach the border, the situation hasn’t changed
The woman was arrested while driving on Wednesday because a brake light on her car was not working; She was detained based on previous traffic quotes and then transferred to ICE, which deported her before contacting her attorney, said Melissa Lopez, executive director of the nonprofit Diocesan Migrant & Refugee Services, which represents her.
On the day of her arrest, ICE issued a so-called “warrant for arrest” to keep her behind bars for violations of immigration laws, El Paso County police said.
Government priorities
During the presidential campaign, both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were openly opposed to the Trump administration’s priorities on immigration.
“It is important for President Biden and Vice President Harris to realize that despite their very clear wishes about the treatment of immigrants, we still see immigrants being abused and ignored locally,” said Lopez.
+ Take the survey: What do Hondurans in the US expect from Joe Biden?
ICE said Friday that it had deported people to Jamaica, in accordance with a court order last week. The agency did not respond to multiple requests for further comment on other deportation flights or on Rosa’s case.
Honduran officials have confirmed that 131 people They were on board a deportation flight that landed on Friday. Another flight that arrived in Guatemala on Friday was carrying 138 people, and an additional 30 people are expected to arrive Monday, local officials said.
Democratic Representative Veronica Escobar, whose district includes El Paso, said her office brought Rosa’s case to the attention of the White House.
“I am concerned that ICE will continue to mobilize quickly before the Biden administration has an opportunity to review things and provide further guidance,” Escobar said Monday.
Two legal experts say that regardless of the judge’s order on the moratorium on deportations, ICE can release immigrants with deportation orders, hold people in custody or otherwise delay the deportation process.
“Deportation planning remains a discretionary matter for the agency,” said Steve Yale-Loehr, a professor of immigration law at Cornell University.
Federal District Judge Drew Tipton issued a temporary injunction last week at the request of Texas to ban the application of a moratorium on 100 days until deportations which entered into force on January 22.
Tipton said the Biden administration had violated federal administrative procedures law by enacting the moratorium and failed to demonstrate why a break was needed.
Tipton said Friday that he will extend his order until February 23. The Justice Department has yet to ask Tipton or a federal appeals court to block the warrant.
Biden is expected to issue a series of immigration-related executive orders on Tuesday. Those orders are estimated to include the formation of a task force to reunite families divorced during the Trump administration.