Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) is preparing to resume deportations of asylum seekers after a Trump-appointed Texas judge ruled against a 100-day suspension ordered by Joe Biden.
The decision, in response to a challenge from a leading figure in the Republican effort to overturn the election result, marks the first shot at a legal rearguard action by Trump supporters with the intention of blocking the Biden government’s agenda.
Human rights activists said the resumption of flights also raised the question of whether Ice officials, accused of systematic abuse of migrants and detainees, can try to resist efforts by the new government to reform the agency.
An Ice plane left San Antonio for Port-au-Prince on Monday morning, transporting Haitians detained on the United States’ border with Mexico and expelled under a highly controversial interpretation of public health laws.
“Flight of deportation to Haiti on the first day of the month of black history,” wrote Guerline Jozef, co-founder of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, in a text for the Guardian. “Slap in the face.”
According to activists, there are also 23 Africans being deported from an Ice detention facility in Alexandria, Louisiana, as of Tuesday, including 11 Angolans, seven Cameroonians, two Congolese and three others of unknown nationalities.
Although the Haitian flight probably went ahead even under the Biden moratorium, the expected African flight defies that order, as well as the guidelines set by the acting secretary of internal security, David Pekoske, which went into effect on Monday. Pekoske called for deportations to be limited to suspected terrorists, convicted criminals considered a threat to public security and undocumented people arrested at the border after November 1.
At least some of the potential deportees have pending lawsuits, and one obtained an emergency suspension by an appeals court on Sunday night. Others are expected to be deported on Tuesday or Wednesday.
The ice appears to be advancing with the flight from deportation, despite reports that Cameroonians deported to their country in October and November in the midst of a bloody civil conflict were arrested, beaten, hid – or in some cases simply disappeared.
“Many of them were locked up in the military prison, where they took a lot of people who are arrested by the army,” said Mambo Tse, an activist in the Cameroonian community in the USA. “It’s not safe.”
Lauren Seibert, a researcher and advocate for Human Rights Watch, said: “After dozens of Cameroonians have been denied asylum in the United States and have been deported in recent months, Human Rights Watch has documented several cases of deportees facing prison, abuse, criminal prosecution and threats from Cameroonian authorities after his return. Some of their families were also threatened and harassed ”.
Upon taking office on January 20, the Biden government ordered the 100-day suspension of deportation flights, with some limited exceptions, while Ice’s procedures were revised to “allow the Department’s resources to be concentrated where they are most needed” .
However, a federal judge in Texas, Drew Tipton, appointed by Donald Trump last June, ordered the suspension, blocking the suspension, but not the new guidelines. Tipton’s appointment was challenged by Democrats because of concerns about his lack of judicial experience and his support for the reinstatement of a Texas social worker who was fired for using racial slander against a black colleague. He argued, “It certainly does not show a pattern of hostility towards anyone or any person of a particular race.”
The case against the moratorium was presented by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who played a leading role in the effort to overturn the 2020 election result.
Paxton addressed Trump’s supporters in Washington on January 6, just before the Capitol invasion.
“We are not going to stop fighting. We are Texans, we are Americans and the fight will continue, ”he told the crowd, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Paxton was indicted for securities fraud allegedly committed before his inauguration. He has also been accused of abuse of power by seven whistleblowers and is being prosecuted for retaliation after the whistleblowers’ dismissal. He is under investigation by the FBI for allegations of office abuse.
Paxton’s lawyer, Philip Hilder, declined to comment on the reports of an FBI investigation.
After Tipton’s decision on deportations, Paxton declared “Victory” in his official Twitter account.
“Texas is the FIRST state in the country to file a lawsuit against Administrator Biden,” he wrote. “AND WE WON.”
VICTORY.
Texas is the FIRST state in the country to file a lawsuit against administrator Biden.
AND WE WON.
Within 6 days of Biden’s tenure, Texas STOPPED his freeze on illegal deportation.
* This * was a seditious uprising on the left. And my team and I stopped.
– Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) January 26, 2021
Echoing the language widely used to denounce the looting of the Capitol, Paxton described the 100-day deportation moratorium as “a seditious leftist uprising” that he had prevented.
In a statement to the Guardian on Monday, an Ice spokesman said the agency “is in compliance with the temporary restraining order” issued by the Texas court.
Justice Department attorneys argued against staying in the Tipton courthouse in the southern Texas district, but it was unclear when or if they would appeal the decision. A department spokesman declined to comment.
The American Civil Liberties Union is trying to challenge the Texas decision on behalf of immigrant rights groups.
“There is a legal aspect and a practical aspect,” said Cody Wofsy, an attorney at ACLU. “Will ice officials who may disagree with the new government’s new policies implement these policies or will they try to implement a more relentless immigration policy than they might prefer?”