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DHS Announces Expansion of Expedited Removal
Border Patrol Officers Given Power to Order Deportations –
A Power Previously Entrusted to Immigration Judges
Decision Further Undermines Fairness; Puts Refugees at Risk
New York – The Department of Homeland Security announced today that it will expand the use of expedited removal – a summary immigration deportation process – to the area within 100 miles of U.S. borders with Canada and Mexico. The expansion of expedited removal will give Border Patrol Officers in the border area the power to issue deportation orders that are currently issued by immigration judges. Read the DHS press release Not only will these migrants face an increased risk of improper or mistaken deportation under the expedited procedures, but they will also be deprived of the right to seek release from detention before an immigration judge in a custody hearing.
“Expedited removal is a process that lacks basic due process protections,” commented Eleanor Acer, director of the Refugee Protection Program at Human Rights First. “The people affected by this change will lose the right to have an immigration judge decide whether they should be deported from the U.S. Instead the power to issue a deportation order, which can have life and death consequences, will be entrusted to a border patrol officer without any independent review.”
Background on Expedited Removal Concerns
Numerous concerns have been raised about expedited removal’s lack of due process protections and about its implementation. Applied since 1997 at U.S. airports and borders, expedited removal is a summary deportation process that gives DHS immigration officers the power to issue deportation orders that could previously be issued only by trained immigration judges.
Human Rights First has, in a series of reports, documented the flaws that have plagued expedited removal. A Human Rights First report from October 2000 identified numerous problems with the expedited process and recommended that its use be limited to immigration emergencies. Is This America? A report just issued by the American Bar Association and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights also flagged many deficiencies in the implementation of expedited removal – and highlighted the case of a refugee who was mistakenly deported back to face danger in Colombia upon the order of an immigration inspector under the expedited deportation process.
Concerns About Expansion
At the time the expedited removal provisions were initially implemented in 1997, the Department of Justice decided not to apply the process to people who were already within the U.S. and had not been formally admitted or paroled. Noting that it needed time to “gain insight and experience” with the process by applying it on a more limited basis, the Department of Justice and INS acknowledged that “application of the expedited removal provisions to aliens already in the United States will involve more complex determinations of fact and will be more difficult to manage. . .” 62 Fed Reg at page 10313 (March 6, 1997).
It is unclear how border patrol officers will manage the many complex determinations that are involved in these deportation decisions. DHS has stated that the expedited procedures will only apply to undocumented migrants who have entered the U.S. within 14 days, but it is not clear how Border Patrol officers will make this assessment. DHS has stated that “the expanded use of expedited removal is primarily directed at those illegal aliens who are not citizens of Mexico or Canada.” It is not clear whether the process will be directed at migrants of particular nationalities, which could raise concerns of profiling.
DHS has stressed that the process will not be implemented until Border Patrol officers have received training. “Training is critical,” Acer agreed, “but training hasn’t prevented the mistaken deportation of citizens, refugees and legitimate tourists under the existing expedited process. These are the kinds of decisions that should be made by trained judges.”
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For the past quarter century, Human Rights First (the new name of Lawyers Committee for Human Rights) has worked in the United States and abroad to create a secure and humane world by advancing justice, human dignity and respect for the rule of law. We support human rights activists who fight for basic freedoms and peaceful change at the local level; protect refugees in flight from persecution and repression; help build a strong international system of justice and accountability; and make sure human rights laws and principles are enforced in the United States and abroad.
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