Illegal Aliens – Innocent Children Targeted; Policies to Be Challenged But Likely Legal
WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 18, 2017): John Kelly, Secretary of Homeland Security, has apparently issued on Friday two still-secret orders, styled as memos, which dramatically expand the number of illegal aliens who can be both detained and deported, including thousands of innocent children who entered as “unaccompanied minors” and were previously protected from deportation.
Illegal Aliens
MichaelGaida / Pixabay
Although it is quite likely that these orders will be attacked in many court proceedings, they may well be harsh but legal, says public interest law professor John Banzhaf.
Banzhaf was one of the first to predict that President Trump would rewrite his controversial immigration executive order rather than seek further court review, and the rewrite of that original order reportedly incorporates suggestions which Banzhaf made.
The memos make hundreds of thousands of aliens subject to what is known as expedited removal proceedings to get them out of the country expeditiously; a procedure which previously applied only to people caught within 100 miles of the border within 14 days of coming to the U.S. Now aliens can be quickly removed if they cannot prove that they were in the country continuously for two years before being captured.
The new memos also nullify several orders President Barack Obama issued to protect those in the country who had not committed criminal acts beyond entering the country without permission.
In addition, at least one expands the definitions of “criminals” to include not only those who have been convicted of a crime but even those who have been charged or even thought to have “committed acts which constitute a chargeable criminal offense.”
This could include so-called victimless crimes such a fraud related to getting a job. Finally, the new memos make it more difficult for persons entering the country to claim asylum.
Although the orders seem harsh, and are likely to be challenged in court, they may well be entirely legal says Banzhaf.
He notes that they technically do not create any new law, but rather provide guidance for carrying out two new executive orders on enforcement of immigration law within the U.S. which were signed by President Trump last month.
These are not the orders which have been stayed in various court proceedings, Banzhaf notes.
