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THE ASTORIAN • TuESdAy, July 23, 2019
Trump expands fast-track
deportation authority
By ELLIOT SPAGAT
Associated Press
SAN DIEGO — The Trump administra-
tion announced Monday that it will vastly
expand the authority of immigration officers
to deport migrants without allowing them to
first appear before judges, its second major
policy shift on immigration in eight days.
Starting Tuesday, fast-track deportations
can apply to anyone in the country illegally
for less than two years. Previously, those
deportations were largely limited to people
arrested almost immediately after crossing
the Mexican border.
Kevin McAleenan, the acting Homeland
Security secretary, portrayed the nationwide
extension of “expedited removal” authority
as another effort to address an “ongoing cri-
sis on the southern border” by freeing up beds
in detention facilities and reducing a back-
log of more than 900,000 cases in immigra-
tion courts.
U.S. authorities do not have space to detain
“the vast majority” of people arrested on the
Mexican border, leading to the release of hun-
dreds of thousands with notices to appear in
court, McAleenan said. Homeland Security
officials with the new deportation power will
deport migrants in the country illegally more
quickly than the Justice Department’s immi-
gration courts, where cases can take years to
resolve.
The American Civil Liberties Union and
American Immigration Council said they
would sue to block the policy.
“Under this unlawful plan, immigrants
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AP Photo/Gregory Bull
ICE officers detain a man in Escondido, Calif.
who have lived here for years would be
deported with less due process than peo-
ple get in traffic court,” said Omar Jawdat,
director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights
Project.
“Expedited removal” gives enforcement
agencies broad authority to deport people
without allowing them to appear before an
immigration judge with limited exceptions,
including if they express fear of returning
home and pass an initial screening interview
for asylum.
The powers were created under a 1996 law
but went largely unnoticed until 2004, when
Homeland Security said it would be enforced
for people who are arrested within two weeks
of entering the U.S. by land and caught within
100 miles of the border.
The fast-track deportations have become a
major piece of U.S. immigration enforcement
over the last decade. Critics have said it grants
too much power to immigration agents and
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials.
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Iran says it arrested 17 Iranians
allegedly recruited by the CIA
By AYA BATRAWY
and NASSER KARIMI
Associated Press
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran on
Monday announced the arrest of 17 Iranians
accused of spying on the country’s nuclear
and military sites for the CIA and said some
of them have been sentenced to death. Pres-
ident Donald Trump called it “another lie”
from Iran.
The arrests happened over the past
months, an Iranian intelligence official said
at a news conference in Tehran. He said
those taken into custody worked on “sensi-
tive sites” in military and nuclear installa-
tions. He did not say how many were given
death sentences.
The announcement came amid weeks of
rising tensions between Washington and Teh-
ran over Trump’s decision to pull the United
States out of Iran’s nuclear agreement with
world powers last year and impose sweep-
ing sanctions on the country.
The official said the 17 were recruited by
the CIA and had “sophisticated training” but
did not succeed in their sabotage missions.
Their spying missions included collect-
ing information at the facilities where they
worked and installing monitoring devices,
he said.
He said some were staff members at the
targeted facilities, and the rest were working
as consultant and contractors. The official
said the CIA had promised them U.S. visas
or jobs in America.
“That’s totally a false story. That’s another
lie,” Trump said at the White House.
Trump also said Iran has “disrespected”
the United States, adding: “If they want to
make a deal, frankly it’s getting harder for
me to want to make a deal with Iran because
they’ve behaved very badly. They’re saying
bad things.”
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a for-
mer CIA director, declined to address spe-
cifics of the arrests but said: “The Iranian
regime has a long history of lying.”
“I think everyone should take with a grain
of salt everything that the Islamic Republic
of Iran asserts today,” he said.
With tensions rising recently, the U.S. has
increased its military presence in the region
and is sending at least 500 U.S. soldiers to
Saudi Arabia, Iran’s rival.
Last month, U.S. officials said American
military cyberforces struck Iranian Revolu-
tionary Guard computers, disabling systems
that controlled its rocket and missile launch-
ers. The cyberattack came after Trump
backed away from an airstrike in response to
Iran’s downing of a U.S. surveillance drone.
The Iranian official did not give his name
but was identified as the director of the coun-
terespionage department of Iran’s Intelli-
gence Ministry. It is rare in Iran for intelli-
gence officials to appear before media, or for
any official to give a news conference with-
out identifying himself.
The official said some of the agents
recruited by the CIA had turned and are now
working with his department against the
United States.
He also handed out a CD with video of
what Iran said was a foreign female spy
working for the CIA. The disc also included
the names of several U.S. Embassy staff
members in Turkey, India, Zimbabwe and
Austria who Iran said were in touch with the
recruited Iranian spies.
Trump seeks Pakistan’s help to end Afghan war
By DEB RIECHMANN
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President Donald
Trump claimed Monday he could end the
nearly two-decade old war in Afghanistan in
a matter of days, but it would kill millions of
people and wipe the country “off the face of
the earth.”
The president made the statement at the
White House as he praised Pakistan Prime
Minister Imran Khan and sought his help
in negotiating a peace deal in neighboring
Afghanistan.
“I could win that war in a week. I just
don’t want to kill 10 million people,” Trump
told reporters in the Oval Office. “If I wanted
to win that war, Afghanistan would be wiped
off the face of the earth. It would be gone. It
would be over, literally, in 10 days.”
Warming up to Khan marked a turn-
around for Trump, who has been sharply
critical of Pakistan and now hopes Khan’s
government will use its influence with the
Taliban to advance a peace deal and help the
U.S. withdraw from the nearly two-decade
old war.
The war began when the U.S. went after
al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and his
Taliban supporters in Afghanistan following
the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Sitting
alongside Khan, Trump said he wanted a
peaceful resolution. “So we’re working with
Pakistan and others to extricate ourselves.”
The pleasantries in the Oval Office were
an abrupt change from when Trump cut mil-
lions of dollars in aid to Pakistan, saying the
only thing it offered the United States was
“lies” and “deceit.”
Khan has bashed Trump too, but now
says Pakistan is also eager to work to end the
war. The U.S. wants Pakistan to use its lever-
age to get the Taliban to agree to a ceasefire,
negotiate with the Afghan government and
stop harboring militant groups.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who sat in
on the meeting, said, “Peace with honor and
dignity in Afghanistan is only possible with
the complete buy-in of Pakistan.”
“If the Taliban are denied sanctuary in
Pakistan, this war will end quickly and
on our terms,” Graham said, adding that
he thinks Pakistan’s leaders are ready for
change. “It is my hope that we can negotiate
a free trade agreement between the United
States and Pakistan, which would be of
mutual economic benefit and an incentive to
maintain stability in the region.”
U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has been
holding talks with the Taliban for months,
but so far the militant group has refused
to talk directly to the Afghan government.
There has been no let-up in terrorist attacks
during the U.S.-Taliban talks.
“It’s the closest we’ve been to a peace
deal,” Khan told Trump. “And I hope in the
coming days we will be able to urge the Tal-
iban to speak to the Afghan government and
come to a political solution.”
Trump’s casual comments about wiping
Afghanistan off the map will likely unsettle
Afghans, who have fought against the Tali-
ban alongside their U.S. and NATO partners
for years. Afghans also are wary of Paki-
stan’s involvement in their country’s future.
For years, the Afghans have accused Paki-
stan of creating instability in their country
by giving militants a safe place from which
to stage attacks across the two countries
long, porous border.
Youngs Bay Plaza
173 S. Hwy 101
Warrenton, OR 97146
(503) 836-7921
Miracle-Ear Center
2505 Main Ave N, Suite C
Tillamook, OR 97141
(503) 836-7926
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Qualified Field Test Candidates:
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• Are at least 55 years of age or older
• Have experienced some level of hearing difficulty,
or currently wear hearing aids
• Don’t currently work for a market research
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