The Trump Administration has finalized a plan to bypass immigration courts and remove illegal aliens who are unable to prove they've been present continuously in the U.S. for two years or more, according to an announcement Monday, as reported by Politico. The Department of Homeland Security will publish a notice in the Federal Register Tuesday that aims to use the department's full statutory authority to employ "expedited removal" to a broader range of illegal aliens who cross the border.
The expansion is the latest move in President Donald Trump's attempt to stem the flow of illegal immigration into the United States. This follows the regulation published last week that would bar migrants who pass through another country en route to the U.S. from seeking asylum. Politico also reported Thursday that an administration official last week pressed to lower the annual refugee admission ceiling to zero, although those deliberations remain ongoing.
While the administration has experimented with a range of restrictive immigration policies, the number of migrants arriving at the southwest border soared in recent months to levels not seen in more than a decade. The flow receded in June but remains high compared with similar months during the Obama administration and Trump's first year in office.
A 2004 regulatory change currently limits expedited removal to immigrants who were arrested within 14 days of arrival and caught within 100 miles of a U.S. land border. However, the 1996 statute that created the process allows the speedy removal of people who cannot prove at least two years of continuous presence in the U.S. The notice set to publish Tuesday will enable the use of the faster process against people caught anywhere in the U.S., not just within the 100-mile border zone.
An additional push for this rule comes as the expansion of expedited removal could enable federal immigration officers to apprehend and deport more migrants without adding to an already lengthy immigration court backlog. The courts currently have a soaring backlog that's approaching 1 million cases, according to data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University.
