The DHS is making it much easier to deport illegal aliens who have used fraudulent documents or who illegally took government benefits. Officers at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services — the legal immigration agency — are being urged to bring deportations themselves rather than passing it on to the DHS or ICE. The current operation is wasteful.
The USCIS refer the charges to ICE, who will make the decision and then try to track down the illegal alien to serve them with a Notice to Appear, or NTA, which signals the beginning of the deportation process. In many cases, the illegals go into hiding rather than appear. Under the new guidelines, the USCIS workers would serve the illegals with the notice at the time their applications are denied over legal violations.
Step by step President Trump is making it easy to deport illegal aliens as he promised during the campaign.
“For too long, USCIS officers uncovering instances of fraudulent or criminal activity have been limited in their ability to help ensure U.S. immigration laws are faithfully executed,” USCIS Director L. Francis Cissna said in announcing the changes.
“This updated policy equips USCIS officers with clear guidance they need and deserve to support the enforcement priorities established by the president, keep our communities safe, and protect the integrity of our immigration system from those seeking to exploit it.”
The new guidance reclaims USCIS’s role as a gatekeeper and expands the number of government employees on the lookout for deportable migrants.
“When fraud, misrepresentation, or evidence of abuse of public benefit programs is part of the record and the alien is removable, USCIS will issue an NTA upon denial of the petition or application, or other appropriate negative eligibility determination,” the guidance says.
USCIS says the move is about efficiency. In the past, it had to wait on ICE to make decisions and ICE would have to track someone down to issue them an NTA. Now, USCIS will be able to do that immediately.