US orders sweeping crackdown on undocumented immigrants

The Department of Homeland Security issued tough new orders on Tuesday to begin a sweeping crackdown on undocumented immigrants, putting nearly all of the country's 11 million unauthorised foreigners in their crosshairs.

Two memos issued by DHS Secretary John Kelly order border patrol and immigration officers to deport as quickly as possible any undocumented immigrants they find, with only a few exceptions, principally children.

The new guidelines come as President Donald Trump is expected to issue a new executive order restricting immigration from Muslim majority nations after his initial decree faced popular uproars and legal hurdles.

During his election campaign Trump vowed to ban all Muslims from entering the country and deport millions of undocumented immigrants. He called Mexican undocumented immigrants “rapists” at the speech announcing his candidacy in 2015.

The priority for deportation will remain undocumented immigrants convicted of crimes, but will also include anyone who has been charged or potentially faces criminal charges.

However, categories of unauthorised immigrants deemed as low priority by the previous Barack Obama administration - generally anyone not tied to a crime - are no longer protected.

"With extremely limited exceptions, DHS will not exempt classes or categories of removal aliens from potential enforcement," the department said.

"All of those in violation of the immigration laws may be subject to enforcement proceedings, up to and including removal from the United States."

Over the weekend, the Associated Press news agency reported that the White House is considering deploying 100,000 National Guard troops to help with deportations, but Trump’s press secretary denied the report.

Kelly ordered immediate action to begin planning and building a wall along the US southern border with Mexico.

"These memos confirm that the Trump administration is willing to trample on due process, human decency, the well-being of our communities."

-Omar Jadwat, ACLU

He also ordered the hiring of another 5,000 officers for the Customs and Border Protection agency and 10,000 for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

Soon after being inaugurated president on 20 January, Trump ordered action to begin construction of a wall along the nearly 2,000-mile-long US-Mexico border, a tightening of border security, and tougher enforcement against undocumented immigrants inside the country.

The memos come ahead of meetings this week between Kelly and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto in Mexico.

Besides Pena Nieto, the two American officials will meet with Mexico's ministers of the interior, foreign affairs, finance, defence and the navy, the State Department said.

Key topics include border security, law enforcement operation and trade, according to a State Department statement.

Automatic expulsion

The new rules make it easier for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol and Customs Service (CBP) officials to automatically expel undocumented immigrants. Kelly said the mass detentions of the past, requiring judicial review, have overburdened the government.

"The surge of illegal immigration at the southern border has overwhelmed federal agencies and resources and has created a significant national security vulnerability to the United States," he said in one of the memos.

"Thousands of aliens apprehended at the border, placed in removal proceedings, and released from custody have absconded and failed to appear at their removal hearings. Immigration courts are experiencing a historic backlog of removal cases."

Pro-immigrant groups, already nervous after hundreds were arrested in a series of ICE raids on immigrant "sanctuary cities" two weeks ago, expressed shock and outrage.

"Secretary Kelly has unleashed an unprecedented witch hunt on millions of immigrant families," said Angelica Salas, executive director for the Los Angeles-based Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights.

"These guidelines represent an unlawful, expedited process, a dragnet, to remove undocumented immigrants living and working in the US. This is a dastardly approach to a very human issue," she said.

Omar Jadwat, director of the Immigrants' Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, predicted strong legal challenges to the new policy.

"These memos confirm that the Trump administration is willing to trample on due process, human decency, the well-being of our communities, and even protections for vulnerable children, in pursuit of a hyper-aggressive mass deportation policy," he said.