ICE Has a New Strategy To Deport Migrants More Quickly: End Their Court Cases

The Trump administration is reportedly pursuing a new strategy to accelerate deportations: terminate the immigration court cases of certain people to arrest them and place them in a faster deportation process.

CBS News reported on Friday of the strategy, noting increased cases of migrants arrested outside immigration courthouses across the U.S. In those cases ICE agents arrested people whose cases had been terminated at the request of the government.

The process is known as "expedited removal" and allows agents to quickly deport migrants if their cases meet certain conditions. It stands in contrast with regular immigration court proceedings, which can take years to complete and currently feature a backlog of millions of pending cases.

The outlet detailed that migrants who don't have proper documentation and can't prove they have been in the U.S. for more than two years can be deported under expedited removal and without a court hearing. It can also apply to migrants who entered legally through a port of entry, potentially placing the nearly 1 million who did so through the CBP One implemented during the Biden administration at risk of deportation as well.

The figure was generally used with migrants who were found within 100 miles from the border and had been in the country for fewer than two weeks. However, the Trump administration expanded the scope of the measure.

Even if migrants don't get a hearing before a court, they do get an interview with an asylum officer who will review if they have a legitimate fear of being persecuted in their home country. If they pass the interview they do get a chance to face a judge.

The strategy seems to be well underway. From Arizona, to California, New York and beyond, immigration enforcement agents are increasingly making a presence outside of courtrooms.

According to The Associated Press, at least three U.S. immigration officials said government attorneys were given the order to start dismissing cases when they showed up for work Monday, hence giving federal agents a free hand to arrest those same individuals as soon as they stepped out of the courtroom.

AP reporters also said they witnessed detentions and arrests or spoke to attorneys whose clients were picked up at immigration courthouses in Los Angeles, Phoenix, New York, Seattle, Chicago and Texas.

In Arizona, at least a dozen migrants were handcuffed by unidentified Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents Tuesday and Wednesday after a morning of immigration hearing sessions. On Wednesday night, it remained unclear if the migrants were taken to local detention centers or to other states, Isaac Ortega, a Phoenix-based immigration attorney said.