Immigration and Customs Enforcement announces delay in arrests of foreign nationals except for those who pose risk to public safety

This article is more than 5 months old

This article is more than 5 months old

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) is scaling back the aggressive operations it launched under Donald Trump as the country contends with the new coronavirus outbreak.

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The US immigration agency announced on Wednesday that it was temporarily shifting priorities, focusing its efforts on tracking down people in the US without legal authorization who pose a risk to public safety or would be subject to mandatory detention on criminal grounds.

Under the Trump administration, the agency had been aggressively detaining anyone in the country without authorization as part of a hardline approach to enforcement, including the ramping up of large-scale raids targeting undocumented immigrants.

The agency said in a statement that its investigations unit would focus on public safety and national security, including drug and human trafficking as well as anti-gang operations and child exploitation cases.

In all other cases agents “will exercise discretion to delay enforcement actions until after the crisis or utilize alternatives to detention, as appropriate”, the agency said.

Ice said the change was temporary and intended to ensure the welfare and safety of the public and its agents.

It will not carry out enforcement operations at or near healthcare facilities except in “the most extraordinary circumstances” during the crisis.

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The temporary policies announced on Wednesday in response to the pandemic resemble the Obama administration’s “felons, not families” approach.

Under the previous administration, immigrants without serious criminal offenses were often spared deportation. Donald Trump changed priorities, and his administration has often underscored that all undocumented immigrants are subject to deportation.

The new Ice policy comes after immigration lawyers joined with labor unions representing Ice prosecutors and immigration judges to ask the justice department to temporarily close the immigration courts. Though there are no confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ice detention facilities, doctors and public health officials have warned that detained populations are at high risk.

It’s unclear whether the 37,000 people already in Ice detention will remain there. Overcrowding at detention facilities puts not only those who are detained but also enforcement agents and officers at risk, according to the internal watchdog for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Ice.

Although no cases of coronavirus have been confirmed at detention centers, one person was evaluated with coronavirus symptoms at a facility in San Diego. Another center in Washington state’s King county closed for two weeks due to concerns that an employee was infected.