In an exclusive revelation, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued directives to repeal restrictions on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, previously imposed by former DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
The department has also ordered a review of the use of humanitarian parole for admitting migrants.
As reported by Fox News, the first directive, a draft of which was reviewed by the news outlet, revokes a 2021 directive by Mayorkas. The former directive had expanded the list of "protected areas" where ICE was prohibited from conducting immigration enforcement.
The policy was intended to ensure that enforcement did not impede "peoples access to essential services or engagement in essential activities."
The protected areas encompassed schools, universities, healthcare facilities, places of worship, "places where children gather," social service establishments, food banks, religious or civil ceremonies, and disaster or emergency response and relief centers.
Mayorkas had stated at the time, "In our pursuit of justice, including in the execution of our enforcement responsibilities, we impact peoples lives and advance our countrys well-being in the most fundamental ways. As a result, when conducting an enforcement action, ICE and CBP agents and officers must first examine and consider the impact of where actions might possibly take place, their effect on people, and broader societal interests."
The new directive issued on Monday rescinds this guidance, advocating for the use of common sense instead. "Going forward, law enforcement officers should continue to use that discretion along with a healthy dose of common sense," the new directive stated. "It is not necessary, however, for the head of the agency to create bright line rules regarding where our immigration laws are permitted to be enforced."
ICE agents have expressed to Fox News their belief that the repeal of the Mayorkas order will enable them to pursue more illegal immigrants, who have until now been able to evade arrest by hiding near schools and churches.
A separate directive, also reviewed by Fox, focuses on the use of humanitarian parole. This mechanism was extensively used by the Biden administration to admit hundreds of thousands of migrants into the U.S., including nearly 1.5 million via the CBP One app and parole processes for nationals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela (CHNV.) The administration also initiated parole programs for nationals from Ukraine and Afghanistan.
The directive highlights that the statute requires the authority to be used on a "case by case basis," a stipulation that Republican critics argue the administration has abused. It underscores that parole is "a limited use authority, applicable only in a very narrow set of circumstances."
The directive also alleges that "it has been repeatedly abused by the Executive Branch over the past several decades in ways that are blatantly inconsistent with the statute." It further states, "Most important, the parole statute does not authorize categorical parole programs that make aliens presumptively eligible on the basis of some set of broadly applicable criteria."
The directive instructs the heads of ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to compile a list of instructions, policies, and procedures related to parole, review them, and devise a plan to phase out any that are not in harmony with the statute.
They are then to submit a report to the DHS secretary, while also pausing, modifying, or terminating any programs that they believe were not properly enacted, and that they can adjust in a manner that is consistent with statutes, regulations, and court orders.
These directives were issued shortly after Trump signed a series of 10 border-related executive orders, including orders deploying the military to the border, terminating Biden's parole programs, and ending birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants.
The orders also proclaim a national emergency and mandate the resumption of construction of the wall at the southern border.
"All illegal entry will immediately be halted," Trump declared moments after his inauguration. "And we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came."
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