U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials detained dozens of migrants following their hearings in immigration courts across several U.S. cities this week, in operations that advocates say appeared to target individuals who had been in the country for less than two years.
- ICE agents detained migrants at courthouses in New York City, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Seattle, according to family members, attorneys, and press reports.
- This operation demonstrates a new strategy to speed up deportations and avoid longer processes.
- In Phoenix, Arizona, on Tuesday and Wednesday, ICE arrested several people outside the immigration court.
ICE agents detained migrants at courthouses in New York City, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Seattle, according to family members, attorneys, and press reports.
In at least some of the arrests, immigration judges had just dismissed active cases against migrants, relatives and advocates reported. The move could allow authorities to subject them to an expedited deportation process, known as fast-track removal or expedited deportation.
President Donald Trump aims to deport a record number of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. but has complained that courts and current laws have slowed the effort.
ICE guidelines issued in January this year instructed agents to consider fast-track removal for all previously released immigrants if they had not properly applied for asylum, reported Reuters.
This operation demonstrates a new strategy to speed up deportations and avoid longer processes.
Meanwhile, a senior official from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated that the effort targeted immigrants who were allowed into the U.S. during the administration of former Democratic President Joe Biden.
“ICE is now enforcing the law and placing these undocumented immigrants into fast-track deportation. As it always should have been,” the official said in a statement.
In Phoenix, Arizona, on Tuesday and Wednesday, ICE arrested several people outside the immigration court.
Among them were Geovanni Francisco and his mother, originally from Guerrero, Mexico, who entered the country in 2023 after requesting an appointment through the Biden-era CBP One app, according to his aunt Hilda Ramírez. Their case was dismissed Wednesday morning, according to records.
“They weren’t even given a chance to gather their belongings,” Ramírez said, who accompanied her sister and nephew to the hearing.
Image: DiarioNY
