February 22, 2017
BLACK
HISTORY
MONTH
Page 9
An immigration rights rally brings hundreds of people to the Capitol
in Salem on Sunday. (AP photo)
Deportations to Grow
Sweeping rewrite
of enforcement
policies
(AP) -- The Trump adminis-
tration is greatly expanding the
number of people living in the
U.S. illegally who are considered
a priority for deportation, includ-
ing people arrested for traffic vio-
lations, according to agency docu-
ments released Tuesday.
The documents represent a
sweeping rewrite of the nation’s
immigration enforcement priori-
ties.
The Homeland Security De-
partment memos, signed by Sec-
retary John Kelly, lay out that
any immigrant living in the Unit-
ed States illegally who has been
charged or convicted of any crime
-- and even those suspected of a
crime -- will now be an enforce-
ment priority. That could include
people arrested for shop lifting or
minor traffic offenses.
The memos eliminate far more
narrow guidance issued under
the Obama administration that
resources strictly on immigrants
who had been convicted of serious
crimes, threats to national security
and recent border crossers.
Kelly’s memo also describes
plans to enforce a long-standing
but obscure provision of the U.S.
Immigration and Nationality Act
that allows the government to send
some people caught illegally cross-
ing the Mexican border back to
Mexico, regardless of where they
are from. It’s unclear whether the
United States has the authority to
force Mexico to accept foreigners.
That provision is almost certain to
face opposition from civil libertari-
ans and officials in Mexico.