Trump to call on Border Patrol for deportations

TEXAS – Tougher scrutiny on asylum claims, increased cooperation with local jails and an expanded role for the U.S. Border Patrol and other agencies. That’s what a border security expert sees coming as President-Elect Donald Trump tries to make good on his campaign promise to close the border to illegal immigration and carry out mass deportations, according to Border Report. Trump has already shown signs he means business by tapping Tom Homan, the former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE – the agency in charge of removing unauthorized migrants – as his border czar. “When people hear mass deportations, Middle America thinks Border Patrol. That’s not the case, it’s the Enforcement Removal Operations of ICE,” said Victor M. Manjarrez Jr., a former U.S. Border Patrol chief in El Paso and Tucson, Ariz. “That’s why Tom Homan was selected as border czar. His background is in enforcement and removal operations.”

At least 11 million million undocumented immigrants live in the United States. And before Joe Biden issued an executive order last June curtailing asylum claims between ports of entry, another 2 million people a year were illegally crossing the border from Mexico. While there are ways Trump can ramp up deportations quickly, the money, personnel and facilities to force a mass exodus are lacking, Manjarrez said. “The idea of mass deportations – we use that term a lot – people are going to be disappointed (with it). It’s going to be very targeted, very focused,” he said. “If anyone is expecting buses rolling down Interstate 10, I don’t think that’s gong to be the case.” Trump can quickly ramp up deportations simply by increasing the number of migrants placed on expedited removal – law-speak for fast-track deportations – right after they cross the border. “Instead of saying, ‘We’re going to send you to an ICE facility’ for deportation, which is an extended process and involves a judge, the individual can waive that and in essence you can do that at the station,” Manjarrez said. “They usually say they just want to go home and it’s very quick. What is does for the government is it reduces the logistical detail: All those beds, all that transportation.” The Biden administration for the most part used expedited removals on Mexican citizens, but that could be applied to other nationalities, especially if Trump secures the cooperation of Mexico to temporarily take in foreigners.