The Trump administration is seeking ways to
increase capacity within immigration enforcement agencies to create a
deportation force President Donald Trump repeatedly advocated on the
campaign trail.
According to a document obtained by The Washington Post,
the Department of Homeland Security has begun the process of ramping up
its abilities to rapidly deport thousands of people who are in the
country illegally.
The report, dated April 25, is a progress report
on the president's executive orders to restrict who is allowed to
travel to the U.S. While a federal judge has blocked parts of both
executive orders relating to a ban on travel of people from several
Muslim-majority countries, other portions of the orders instructing
officials to strengthen vetting procedures were allowed to go forward.
[READ:
Immigration Judges Headed to 12 U.S. Cities to Speed Deportations]
According to the report, Homeland Security has
located 33,000 additional beds for immigrants being held for
deportation, begun to reach out to local police that could be empowered
to enforce immigration laws and mapped the construction plans for a wall
along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The agency is also looking at ways to expedite
the hiring of 5,000 of new officers as part of a major expansion of
Customs and Border Patrol. The altered hiring procedure might eliminate a
polygraph test, a physical fitness examination and Spanish language
proficiency from the entrance exam.
Trump has repeatedly said he would focus his
immigration enforcement on "criminals," and Secretary of Homeland
Security John Kelly has said the administration is not implementing "mass deportations." But a USA Today analysis
in the first weeks of the new administration found the number of
immigration raids targeting people with criminal records was 74 percent
of the total detentions, down from 90 percent in 2016.
Meanwhile, lawmakers have been reluctant to meet
the administration's $4.5 billion request for emergency funding to go
toward the increased border security measures, including the start of
construction on the wall. The wall is ultimately expected to cost about
$20 billion.
Democrats have described the border security
increases as non-starters for the spending legislation that Congress
must pass by April 28 in order to prevent a government shutdown.
"We believe it would be inappropriate to insist
on the inclusion of such funding in a must-pass appropriations bill,"
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote in a letter to Senate Republican
leadership.
If Congress does appropriate the money, the DHS
documents describe next steps that include coordination with the Army
Corps of Engineers on the "highest priority area": a 34-mile barrier in
the Rio Grande Valley and 14 miles of wall near San Diego.
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