Back

…Even w/ #Trump’s early #ExecutiveOrders, his admin has to contend w/overwhelmed #immigration courts where #asylum cases can take years. Trump expanded a fast-track #deportation process known as expedited removal, but it only applies to those in the US for 2yrs or less & gives migrants the ability to claim asylum.

The #AlienEnemiesAct could allow Trump to rapidly #deport migrants deemed part of an "invasion or predatory incursion"-a novel use of a #law previously only invoked in #wartime.

#Republicans frequently refer to illegal #immigration as an invasion & portray migrants as dangerous criminals & "military-aged."

The #Trump WH said on Jan 20 that it was beginning a process to designate criminal cartels & gangs, including the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, as #terrorist orgs & to use the #AlienEnemiesAct to #deport alleged gang members.

…“Desperate families coming to our border to seek refuge do not constitute an invasion by a foreign government within the meaning of the #law,” said Lee Gelernt, a leading attorney w/ the #ACLU, which has put up legal challenges to many of #Trump's previous moves.

#Democratic lawmakers in the US #House & #Senate reintroduced a bill in Jan that would repeal the #AlienEnemiesAct, pointing to its use in the #internment of Americans & arguing it violates individual & #CivilRights.

The #Trump admin is pushing to ramp up #detention space, a move that could work in conjunction with the #AlienEnemiesAct.

Trump last week ordered the expansion of a migrant detention site in #Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to hold up to 30k people. #Military ofcls said they would set up a detention site on a space base in Aurora, Colorado, a city Trump has portrayed as controlled by migrant gangs despite pushback from local leaders.

#ICE stepped up arrests last wk, picking up ~1k people per day - 3X the daily avg last year.

ICE has funding to hold an avg of 41,500 migrants this year & currently has ~40k in custody….

US #immigration courts…had a backlog of 3.6M cases at the end of fiscal year 2024, a jam that could hamper #deportations.

“Unless he figures out a way to bypass the immigration courts, #MassDeportation is an impossibility. But if Alien Enemies is allowed to go into effect, then mass deportation becomes a potential reality,”said John Sandweg, a fmr acting #ICE dir.

Despite his hardline rhetoric, #Trump in his first term deported fewer people than #Obama…. #Biden deported more in fiscal year 2024 than Trump during any single year of his 2017-2021 presidency.