The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has broadened its use of the rapid deportation process, allowing officers to bypass immigration trials and arrest undocumented immigrants directly at court, according to a May 23 report by CBS News.
Citing officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the report stated that ICE is targeting immigrants with pending court hearings by asking judges to dismiss their deportation cases. Once dismissed, officers can detain the individuals immediately and begin deportation proceedings without further legal review. Officials said this move supports the Trump administration’s broader promise to increase deportations.
The shift comes as more than 4 million deportation cases remain backlogged in U.S. immigration courts. The DHS argues that processing each case through the legal system is impractical, and closing select proceedings allows for faster removals.
The rapid deportation process, also known as expedited removal, previously applied only to those arrested within 100 miles of the border or who had been in the country for less than two weeks. However, under the Trump administration, it was expanded to include individuals who overstayed visas after entering legally.
As a result, an estimated 1 million people—many of whom were permitted to stay without legal status under the Biden administration—now fall under the expanded criteria. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin stated, “ICE will now deport all undocumented immigrants eligible under the law.”
The consequences are already being felt. On May 20, CBS News reported that two Cuban immigrants were arrested by ICE agents after attending an immigration hearing in Phoenix, Arizona. Their attorney, Leandro Ferrer, said he believed the case had been resolved after a prosecutor dismissed the deportation proceedings. However, his clients were detained as soon as they exited the courtroom. “The ICE agents did not present any identification or arrest warrants,” Ferrer said.
BY HYOUNGJAE KIM [kim.ian@koreadaily.com]
