Federal immigration authorities are planning a nationwide sweep of undocumented immigrants and families who are still in the United States even after being ordered by a judge to return home, according to U.S. officials. The move -- expected to begin next month if top administration officials give final approval -- comes in response to a recent uptick in illegal border crossings, the officials said.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are focusing their efforts “on individuals who pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security,” including individuals and their families “who have received a final order of removal on or after January 1, 2014,” a Homeland Security spokesperson said in a statement.
“[O]ur border is not open to illegal immigration, and if individuals come here illegally, do not qualify for asylum or other relief, and have final orders of removal, they will be sent back consistent with our laws and our values,” the statement said.
In November 2014, DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson announced new guidelines for federal immigration enforcement, noting that due to “limited resources,” DHS and its components “cannot respond to all immigration violations or remove all persons illegally in the United States.”
There are an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants currently inside the United States.
“As is true of virtually every other law enforcement agency, DHS must exercise prosecutorial discretion in the enforcement of the law,” Johnson said in a memo at the time. “[I]n the exercise of that discretion, DHS can and should develop smart enforcement priorities, and ensure that use of its limited resources is devoted to the pursuit of those priorities.”
The U.S. officials said the coming sweep is in accordance with those priorities, and they emphasized that those being targeted have been afforded due process and were ultimately ordered to return home by a federal judge. Nevertheless, the move has been met with some internal objections or concerns, according to one official.
Earlier this week, DHS released its latest statistics related to immigration enforcement, showing fewer apprehensions at U.S. borders and fewer deportations than the year before.
Over the past year, ICE removed or returned 235,413 people -- 98 percent of whom fell into one or more of ICE’s enforcement priorities, according to DHS. A year earlier, ICE removed or returned 315,943 people.
