Latest news with #EnforcementandRemovalOperations
The Hill
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Hill
What powers do immigration officers have? Is Trump's ICE going too far?
ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations branch has primary responsibility for immigration enforcement in the interior of the U.S., which includes 'the identification, arrest, detention, and removal of deportable aliens.' The specific policies of Immigration and Customs Enforcement change whenever a new president is in the White House, but the statutory enforcement provisions have remained relative stable since the enactment of the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act. Reuters reporters Ted Hesson and Kristina Cooke claim that the changes under the current administration are due to White House demands to increase daily arrest statistics. The White House announced recently that it wants Enforcement and Removal Operations to triple the average number of daily arrests — an increase from 1,000 to 3,000. The reporters claim that community members and Democrats are pushing back against the administration's focus on increasing arrests, 'arguing that ICE is targeting people indiscriminately and stoking fear.' But is this really the problem, or is it that the current administration's policy is to arrest anyone found in the U.S. illegally? The previous administration's policy was to limit enforcement to aliens 'who pose a threat to national security, public safety, and border security and thus threaten America's well-being.' It would be more appropriate, however, to judge ICE on the basis of whether officers are complying with the statutory enforcement restrictions — and I suspect that few people know what these restrictions are. ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations enforcement authority comes primarily from two sections in the Immigration and Nationality Act. Section 1226 provides that, upon issuance of an administrative arrest warrant, an ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officer may arrest and detain an alien 'pending a decision on whether the alien is to be removed from the United States.' Administrative arrest warrants are issued by officers. It also provides that an illegal immigrant can be released on a bond of at least $1,500, or on his own recognizance. Some criminal aliens are subject to mandatory detention. Section 1357 provides authority for officers to act without a warrant in specified situations. For example, an officer can question any 'person believed to be an alien as to his right to be or to remain in the United States.' Section 1304(e) requires aliens 18 years of age and over to carry specified immigration documents with them at all times. An Enforcement and Removal Operations officer can 'arrest any alien who in his presence or view is entering or attempting to enter the United States in violation of any law.' And perhaps the most controversial one is that officers can arrest any alien they have 'reason to believe' is in the United States unlawfully 'and is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained for his arrest.' The Fourth Amendment, meanwhile, provides that the 'right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.' A search is considered 'unreasonable' if there was a reasonable expectation of privacy in the area searched. A 'reasonable expectation of privacy' means that there is an actual (subjective) expectation of privacy, and the expectation is 'one that society recognizes as (objectively) reasonable.' Consequently, immigration officers are required to obtain consent or to have a judicial warrant to enter spaces that are 'not open to the public, including homes, schools, and areas labeled 'private.'' But Enforcement and Removal Operations officers do not need a warrant or consent to enter areas that are open to the public. Judicial warrants are issued by judges, not by ICE officers. Section 1357(g), also known as 287(g), permits the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security to enter into a written agreement authorizing state or local law enforcement officers 'to perform a function of an immigration officer in relation to the investigation, apprehension, or detention of aliens in the United States.' ICE operates three programs with these agreements. The first is a Jail Enforcement Model 'to identify and process removable aliens — with criminal or pending criminal charges — who are arrested by state or local law enforcement agencies.' The second is a Task Force Model, 'a force multiplier for law enforcement agencies to enforce limited immigration authority with ICE oversight during their routine police duties.' The third is a Warrant Service Officer program that 'allows ICE to train, certify and authorize state and local law enforcement officers to serve and execute administrative warrants on aliens in their agency's jail.' DHS regulations govern the use of force. They provide that non-deadly force may be used when an ICE officer has a reasonable basis for believing that such force is necessary. 'Deadly force' is defined as 'force that is likely to cause death or serious physical injury.' This is only permitted when an ICE officer 'has reasonable grounds to believe that such force is necessary to protect the … officer or other persons from the imminent danger of death or serious physical injury.' I think the concern over the White House's call for Enforcement and Removal Operations to triple the daily arrest statistics is overstated. The administration is preparing appropriately to be able to handle the increase. It is going to hire 10,000 new ICE officers, in addition to a major increase in agreements with local authorities. As of April 2025, the administration had increased the program from 151 to 456 agreements. Nolan Rappaport was detailed to the House Judiciary Committee as an Executive Branch Immigration Law Expert for three years. He subsequently served as an immigration counsel for the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Claims for four years. Prior to working on the Judiciary Committee, he wrote decisions for the Board of Immigration Appeals for 20 years.
Newsweek
27-06-2025
- Politics
- Newsweek
Are ICE Agents Using Facial Recognition Phone App? What We Know
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Immigration agents have been given access to a facial recognition app to identify people in the field, according to leaked emails. The emails, exchanged between Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) staff and contractors, allow officers to instantly compare biometrics like faces and fingerprints against Department of Homeland Security (DHS) databases, according to 404 Media. Newsweek contacted the DHS for comment. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers gather for a briefing before an enforcement operation on January 27, 2025, in Silver Spring, Maryland. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers gather for a briefing before an enforcement operation on January 27, 2025, in Silver Spring, Maryland. AP Photo/Alex Brandon Why It Matters The emails say that the biometric tool is best used "to identify unknown subjects in the field," which, along with the contributions from staff at Enforcement and Removal Operations, suggests that it is being used in the Trump administration's attempts to ramp up the removal of migrants without legal status. President Donald Trump vowed to deport millions of undocumented immigrants as part of a hardline mass deportation policy. ICE has been facing intense scrutiny over its conduct, becoming a focal point in the national immigration debate. The White House has maintained that anyone residing in the United States illegally is a "criminal." What To Know In the emails, the app was referred to as "Mobile Fortify" and was recommended for use "in the field" to agents and contractors working with Enforcement and Removal Operations. "The Mobile Fortify App empowers users with real-time biometric identity verification capabilities utilizing contactless fingerprints and facial images captured by the camera on an ICE-issued cell phone without a secondary collection device," one email read. "Officers are reminded that the fingerprint matching is currently the most accurate biometric indicator available in the application." One former ICE agent, who requested anonymity because of concerns about potential repercussions, told Newsweek that ICE has always used such technology, which he said uses non-public databases. "We used [the] EDDIE app, which is fingerprint-based but would generate images," the former agent said. "This technology have been around for 15 or more years. It's just not fingerprints anymore. Photos can now be used. It pulls from our internal databases." The messages also indicated that ICE personnel had been given training in how to use the tool, with specific reference to officers learning how to capture facial images and fingerprints in a "training non-live environment." This is not the first time that the DHS has embraced new technology to crack down on immigration. In November, before the Trump administration entered the White House, AI-powered camera software was rolled out along the southern border, with the aim of spotting human traffickers, drug smugglers and migrants in distress in the gaps between Border Patrol stations. ICE agents have used the EDDIE app, which helps officers quickly fingerprint detainees and access databases in the field. It replaced bulky equipment that once took an hour to process data. Rolled out in 2015, the app allows fingerprints and photos to be taken and uploaded in about 30 seconds. What People Are Saying Attorney Andrew Fels told Newsweek: "We know that ICE and DHS and its various new contractors have a suite of privacy secrecy tools that are evolving and are sophisticated." What Happens Next The DHS has not confirmed how the app is being used. ICE agents continue to follow orders from the Trump administration on detaining and deporting illegal immigrants across the country.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump says 'changes' are coming to immigration enforcement after complaints from farmers and the hospitality industry
Trump is signaling that changes are coming to immigration enforcement. He said that farmers and people in the hospitality industry are losing good workers. "We're going to have to use a lot of common sense," Trump said. There may be some changes coming to the Trump administration's approach to immigration enforcement. President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post on Thursday that both farmers and "people in the Hotel and Leisure business" have said that his approach to immigration enforcement "is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace." "In many cases the Criminals allowed into our Country by the VERY Stupid Biden Open Borders Policy are applying for those jobs," Trump added. "This is not good. We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!" At a White House event later on Thursday, he said that "we're going to have an order on that pretty soon, I think." "We can't do that to our farmers," Trump said. "We're going to have to use a lot of common sense." It comes one day after Tom Homan, the Executive Associate Director of Enforcement and Removal Operations, told Semafor that the administration would begin prosecuting companies that employ immigrants living in the country illegally. According to Census data, the agriculture and leisure industries have relatively high proportions of non-US citizen workers. Read the original article on Business Insider
Business Insider
12-06-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Trump says 'changes' are coming to immigration enforcement after complaints from farmers and the hospitality industry
There may be some changes coming to the Trump administration's approach to immigration enforcement. President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post on Thursday that both farmers and "people in the Hotel and Leisure business" have said that his approach to immigration enforcement "is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace." "In many cases the Criminals allowed into our Country by the VERY Stupid Biden Open Borders Policy are applying for those jobs," Trump added. "This is not good. We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!" At a White House event later on Thursday, he said that "we're going to have an order on that pretty soon, I think." "We can't do that to our farmers," Trump said. "We're going to have to use a lot of common sense." It comes one day after Tom Homan, the Executive Associate Director of Enforcement and Removal Operations, told Semafor that the administration would begin prosecuting companies that employ immigrants living in the country illegally. According to Census data, the agriculture and leisure industries have relatively high proportions of non-US citizen workers.
The Intercept
05-06-2025
- Politics
- The Intercept
ICE Official Reveals Miserable Conditions for U.S. Immigrants at Djibouti Prison
A top Immigration and Customs Enforcement official on Thursday detailed appalling and unsafe conditions faced by a group of deportees, and the government officials guarding them, at a U.S. military base in the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti. Melissa Harper, the number two official at ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations, bemoaned a lack of adequate security equipment at Camp Lemonnier, a U.S. base in Djibouti. In a sworn court declaration, she described illness among the detainees and government agents, inadequate medical care, and 100-degree outdoor temperatures. She detailed risks from malaria, exposure to smoke from nearby burn pits, and potential attacks from militants in Yemen. 'The aliens are currently being held in a conference room in a converted Conex shipping container on the U.S. Naval base in Camp Lemonnier,' said Harper in a sworn declaration in federal court in Massachusetts. 'This has been identified as the only viable place to house the aliens.' Eight detainees – from Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Myanmar, South Sudan and Vietnam – who had been convicted of serious crimes in the U.S. were flown to the military base last month after the Trump administration attempted to expel them to South Sudan. A judge blocked that expulsion, telling the administration they could not send the men to the war-stricken country before they were given an opportunity to contest their deportation. Now imprisoned in Djibouti, the men are currently supervised by 11 ICE personnel with two other ICE employees serving as medical staff. Those officials, Harper said in court, 'do not have the capacity to maintain constant surveillance, custody, and care' of the detainees. Trina Realmuto, a lawyer for the immigrants in the case, told The Intercept that the government brought this situation upon itself. 'The judge gave the government a choice as to how to remedy the government's violation of the court's order – either return them and comply with the order in the United States or comply with the order overseas,' she said. ' The government opted to comply overseas after telling the court that they had the ability to do so. This is a situation the government both created and can remedy if it so chooses.' U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy ordered the Trump administration to halt the planned deportations to South Sudan after lawyers informed him of a flight to that war-torn African country that had already taken off. He cited a previous ruling he issued in April that barred officials from deporting migrants to third countries, without affording them certain due process rights first. The Trump administration instead opted to detain the men in Djibouti as it argues its case. The U.S. government has been laying the groundwork for a global gulag for expelled immigrants. The Trump administration is already using the notorious Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, in Tecoluca, El Salvador, and has its sights set on numerous other countries, including many that the State Department has excoriated for human rights abuses. In addition to using U.S. military sites at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and now in Djibouti, the U.S. has reportedly explored, sought, or struck deals with more than 20 countries: Angola, Benin, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Eswatini, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Kosovo, Libya, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Panama, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, South Sudan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Camp Lemonnier is the primary U.S. military base on the African continent. For weeks, U.S. Africa Command has refused to offer any details on the conditions faced by the prisoners and ICE officials there. Asked about the conditions by The Intercept last month, AFRICOM spokesperson Kelly Cahalan said: 'Please reach out to the White House.' The White House failed to respond to repeated questions from The Intercept. In her testimony, a sworn declaration regarding the case filed to Murphy, Harper detailed additional dangers at the U.S. military base. 'Djibouti utilizes burn pits as a way disposing of trash and human waste,' she said. 'These pits create a smog cloud in the vicinity of Camp Lemonnier, making it difficult to breathe and requiring medical treatment for the officers, who have experienced throat irritation.' Harper said that military resources are being used for the detainees' care, causing disruptions at the base. 'DOD operators have expressed frustration, particularly about the proximity to DOD quarters of aliens with violent criminal records,' she revealed. 'ICE medical staff has also received limited medication and medical supplies for both officers and the aliens from DOD.' 'It is unknown how long the medical supply will last.' Additionally, Harper said that within 72 hours of landing in Djibouti, both the ICE agents and detainees began suffering from unidentified illnesses. 'ICE officers continue to feel ill with symptoms such as coughing, difficulty breathing, fever, and achy joints. These symptoms align with bacterial upper respiratory infection, but ICE officers are unable to obtain proper testing for a diagnosis,' she said. Harper said the medical staff did not have immediate access to the medications necessary to treat the sicknesses. 'Our flight nurse has since been able to obtain some but not all of what is necessary for the proper care and safety of both the officers and the detainees. It is unknown how long the medical supply will last,' she said in the sworn declaration. ICE failed to provide a more detailed accounting of the health status of the eight detainees. 'We continue to be concerned about the health and safety of the men who are being subjected to these conditions,' said Realmuto.
