On Feb. 17, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), John Kelly, issued a memorandum titled, “Implementing the President’s Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements Policies.” The memorandum outlines an implementation plan for President Donald Trump’s Jan. 25, executive order, “Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements.” The memorandum calls for a massive expansion in detention by requiring DHS personnel to detain nearly everyone it apprehends who is in the country in violation of the immigration laws, including those with no criminal convictions. The memorandum indicates that detainees will not be released until they are either removed from the United States, are required to be released by statute or because of a binding settlement agreement or judicial order, become a U.S. citizen or hold other valid immigration status, found to have a credible fear of persecution by an asylum officer or immigration judge and agree to comply with any conditions imposed by Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) upon release, or paroled into the United States.
The memorandum also calls for a dramatic increase in the use of local law enforcement to act as immigration agents in the enforcement of immigration laws by cooperating with ICE agents in the detention of foreign nationals who may be in violation of the immigration laws.
