Government Security News February 2017 Digital Edition
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Hot Topics: More opinions on Immigration<br />
New memos reveal harsh and unforgiving immigration road<br />
map, taking nation backwards in guaranteeing due process and<br />
providing safe havens, as Department of Homeland <strong>Security</strong><br />
implements President Trump’s immigration Executive Orders<br />
By Beth Werlin<br />
The White House released the<br />
implementation memos and other<br />
information on Monday about<br />
how the Department of Homeland<br />
<strong>Security</strong> (DHS) will begin<br />
implementing President Trump’s<br />
immigration Executive Orders<br />
on border security and immigration<br />
enforcement. The memos<br />
reveal that DHS intends to take<br />
our nation backwards in terms of<br />
guaranteeing due process, providing<br />
a safe haven for those who<br />
need it, and building productive<br />
and safe communities where everyone<br />
can thrive.<br />
What is in the memos?<br />
An end to long-standing protections<br />
for children. DHS intends<br />
to strip many children<br />
arriving alone at our border of<br />
basic protections and to penalize<br />
their parents for seeking to<br />
reunite with their children in<br />
the United States. They will do<br />
this by narrowing<br />
the definition<br />
of “unaccompanied<br />
alien child”<br />
in order to limit<br />
those protections<br />
and by launching<br />
either civil or<br />
criminal enforcement<br />
against the<br />
parents. This will<br />
result not only in scaring parents<br />
from coming forward to reunite<br />
with their children but also lead<br />
to more young children representing<br />
themselves in immigration<br />
court against a seasoned<br />
government attorney.<br />
A massive expansion of detention.<br />
The memos contemplate<br />
a massive expansion of detention,<br />
including a requirement<br />
that DHS officers detain nearly<br />
everyone they apprehend at or<br />
near the border. This detention<br />
space expansion—a boon to the<br />
private prison industry—means<br />
30<br />
Photo: Chucky Eager<br />
that more children, families and<br />
other vulnerable groups seeking<br />
protection in the United States<br />
will end up detained, at great financial<br />
and human cost.<br />
Prosecution priorities and discretion<br />
are gone. The new memos<br />
rescind earlier policies on<br />
whom to prosecute and deport<br />
and whom to deprioritize because<br />
they pose no threat to our<br />
communities. The new enforcement<br />
priorities are extremely<br />
broad covering nearly all undocumented<br />
individuals in the<br />
More on page 42
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