HOUSTON (AP) – President Joe Biden’s government deported hundreds of immigrants in its early days, despite its campaign promise to stop illegally removing most people in the United States early in his term.
A federal judge last week ordered the Biden government not to apply a 100-day moratorium on deportations, but the decision did not require the government to schedule them. In the past few days, the US Department of Immigration and Customs has deported immigrants to at least three countries: 15 people to Jamaica on Thursday and 269 people to Guatemala and Honduras on Friday. More deportation flights were scheduled for Monday.
It is not clear how many of these people are considered threats to national or public security or have recently crossed the border illegally, the priority under new guidance that the Department of Homeland Security issued to law enforcement agencies and which took effect on Monday.
Some of the people placed on the flights may have been expelled – which is a faster process than deportation – under a public health order that former President Donald Trump invoked during the coronavirus pandemic and which Biden kept in place.
In the border town of El Paso, Texas, immigration officials on Friday deported a woman who witnessed the 2019 massacre at a Walmart that left 22 dead. She agreed to be a witness against the sniper and met with the local public prosecutor’s office, according to her lawyers.
Rosa was arrested on Wednesday for a broken brake light, detained on the basis of previous transit warrants, and then transferred to ICE, who deported her before she could speak to her lawyer, said Melissa Lopez, the organization’s executive director. non-profit Diocesan Migrant & Refugee Services, which represents hers.
Rosa is being identified only by her first name because she fears for her safety in Juarez, a city on the border between the United States and Mexico and El Paso, known for violence and gang activity.
Prison records confirm that Rosa was fined at El Paso prison on Wednesday by warrants and left on Friday. The ICE issued what is known as a “detainer”, seeking to detain her for immigration violations the day she was arrested, according to the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office.
El Paso’s prosecutor’s office confirmed in a statement on Monday that it had provided Rosa’s lawyers with the necessary documentation to apply for an American visa for crime victims. But the statement also said that Rosa “is not a victim of the Walmart shooting case”. The district attorney did not immediately respond to follow-up questions.
Her lawyers say Rosa pleaded guilty in 2018 to driving under the influence and the ICE later released her, noting that the authorities under Trump’s command discovered she was not a threat to the public, Lopez said.
Both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris vehemently opposed the Trump administration’s immigration priorities during the presidential campaign.
“It is important for President Biden and Vice President Harris to realize that despite their very clear desires about how immigrants are treated, we continue to see immigrants being mistreated and disregarded at the local level,” said Lopez.
ICE said on Friday that it had deported people to Jamaica and that it was in compliance with last week’s court order. The agency did not respond to several requests for additional comments on additional deportation flights or Rosa’s case.
Honduran officials confirmed that 131 people were on a deportation flight that landed on Friday. Another flight that landed in Guatemala on Friday had 138 passengers, with more than 30 people expected to arrive on Monday, local officials said.
The White House referred the questions to the Department of Homeland Security, but a spokesman did not return requests for comment.
US Democratic MP Veronica Escobar of Texas, whose district includes El Paso, said her office had reported Rosa’s case to the White House.
“My concern is that the ICE will continue to act quickly before the Biden government has the opportunity to make assessments and provide further guidance,” said Escobar on Monday.
Two legal experts say that, regardless of the judge’s order on the deportation moratorium, the ICE could release immigrants with deportation orders, keep people in detention or delay the deportation process.
“Scheduling deportations is still a matter of discretion for the agency,” said Steve Yale-Loehr, professor of immigration law at Cornell University.
US District Judge Drew Tipton last week issued a temporary restraining order requested by Texas that prohibits the application of a 100-day deportation moratorium that took effect on January 22. Tipton said the Biden government violated the federal Administrative Procedure Act by issuing the moratorium and has not proved why a break in deportations was necessary.
Tipton said on Friday that he would extend his order until 23 February. The Justice Department has not yet asked Tipton or a federal appeals court to block the order.
The White House re-issued a statement on Friday saying it believed a moratorium was “entirely appropriate”, adding that “President Biden remains committed to taking immediate steps to reform our immigration system to ensure that he upholds American values while maintaining our safe communities. “
Biden is due to issue a series of executive orders related to immigration on Tuesday, amid confirmation by Alejandro Mayorkas as secretary of homeland security. These orders are expected to include the formation of a task force to reunite separate families during the Trump administration.
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Associated Press journalists Will Weissert in Washington, María Verza in Mexico City and Sonia Pérez D. in Guatemala City contributed to this report.