Recommendations of the Editorial team
An internal memo shows that the US government is planning to deport migrants to countries whose nationality does not have. With just six hours of advance. And without any guarantees, that they are protected from torture or persecution.
In the memo that the Washington Post is present, Todd M. Lyons, provisional director of the US immigration and customs authority ICE, describes deportation plans that result from a judgment of the Supreme Court. This allows migrants to quickly disconnect into countries to which they have no personal connection.
If these plans are implemented, many migrants could be deported to countries in which they don’t know anyone. And don’t speak the language. You would hardly or have no way of legally containing your deportation before it is carried out.
Supreme Court paves away for third countries
Lyons wrote that the judgment of the Supreme Court from June allowed the authorities to “immediately” start deportations to “alternative” countries. A term for states whose nationality the person concerned does not have. This practice should apply to migrants who have a legally binding deportation arrangement. But not allowed to be returned to your home country because you are at risk of danger there. Migrants from countries with which the USA do not maintain good relationships, such as Cuba or China, are also said to be affected.
According to Memo, how much lead a person receives a person who receives depends on which country he is deported into. If the US government has received “diplomatic assurances” that migrants are safe there and the Foreign Ministry considers these assurances to be credible, deportation is carried out without prior notice.
Deportation without protective guarantees with only six hours of lead
If there is no such assurance, according to Memo, the deportation can be “under exceptional circumstances” with only six hours of preliminary. In countries in which there is no protection against persecution or torture. In other cases, 24 hours of advance are planned.
According to Memo, immigration officers will not actively check whether an affected fear of a third-state deportation is expressed. However, if someone registers corresponding concerns, it should be checked within about 24 hours whether he is entitled to humanitarian protection according to the US law and UN anti-torture convention-which the US Congress 1994 ratified.
“This puts thousands of people in danger of being persecuted or tortured,” said Trina Realmuto, managing director of the National Immigration Litigation Alliance, the post.
Mass deportation despite the growing rejection of the population
All of this is part of the deportation program of the Trump government. Trump had promised in the election campaign to just deport “the worst of the bad”. However, current ICE data show that 72 percent of imprisoned migrants have no criminal convictions. Despite falling approval among the population-a survey shows a 27-point decline in support for Trump’s immigration policy-the government is driving its plans undeterred.
The Trump government has already started to deport migrants in third countries. And this practice is likely to worsen according to the supreme court judgment. Hundreds of Venezuelans are currently being held in the notorious Cecot prison in El Salvador. A prison that is known for inhuman and torture -like conditions. Eight men from Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Myanmar, Sudan and Vietnam were deported to South Sudan.
In addition, the Salvadorian migrant Kilmar Abrego García was illegally deported to its country of origin. Despite the judicial order. Abrego, who indicates that he was tortured in El Salvador, returned to the USA in June after the Supreme Court ordered his return. The government is now considering deporting it to a third country before its upcoming criminal trial.