ICE Disobeyed Biden’s Order to Drop Trump’s Blanket Deportation Policy
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been found to have disregarded guidance from the Biden administration regarding immigration arrests and deportations. The Biden administration had ordered ICE to prioritize action against individuals who posed security risks. However, a recent report from the American Immigration Council revealed that approximately one-third of ICE arrests between February and November 2021 involved individuals who were not considered risks to security or public safety. Additionally, half of ICE’s requests for local authorities to hold migrants, known as “detainers,” were carried out against individuals who were not deemed security risks.
ICE’s failure to adhere to its own rules and the Biden administration’s guidance is concerning. Raul Pinto, a senior staff attorney at the American Immigration Council, stated that ICE was going outside of the established priorities set by President Biden. The Biden administration had issued new guidelines in January and February 2021, calling for ICE to prioritize individuals considered threats to national security, border security, and public safety. The agency was also instructed to exercise discretion in cases that fell outside of those categories.
A memo from February 2021 required ICE officers to obtain written permission for arrests, detainers, and removals of individuals who were not considered security risks. The memo also mandated the collection of data on enforcement actions and the submission of weekly reports on all enforcements and removals. However, in the nine months following the issuance of this guidance, ICE directed at least a third of its enforcement actions against individuals who were not considered threats to security. The report highlights that ICE officers approved enforcement action in nonpriority cases 89.5 percent of the time. In some cases, enforcement action was taken before an ICE officer even requested approval, suggesting that the pre-approval process did not serve as a significant check on the agency.
The American Immigration Council report was published shortly after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Biden administration’s narrowed enforcement guidelines. Texas and Louisiana had challenged the change, but the court ruled 8-1 in favor of the administration. This ruling puts pressure on the Biden administration to more aggressively pursue its humanitarian immigration proposals. Immigration advocates welcomed the decision, and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas stated that the agency would resume adoption of the narrowed enforcement guidelines.
However, it remains unclear whether ICE has fully implemented the new guidelines. César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández, a law professor at Ohio State University, suggests that it is up to DHS and ICE leadership to ensure that field-level staff and law enforcement officers are following the directives from higher-ups. Implementing policy changes in a large agency like the Department of Homeland Security takes time, but ICE has a history of slow-walking immigration policy shifts under Democratic administrations.
The finalized guidelines issued by Mayorkas in September removed some data collection and reporting requirements from the original policy memo. This lack of standardized reporting on enforcement actions makes it difficult to track ICE’s activities and ensure that Trump’s indiscriminate removal policies are being rolled back. The American Immigration Council is urging the Biden administration to improve data collection on enforcement actions to enhance oversight of ICE.
In conclusion, ICE’s failure to prioritize individuals who pose security risks and its disregard for the Biden administration’s guidance is concerning. The agency’s actions highlight the challenges of implementing policy changes in a large organization like ICE. It is crucial for DHS and ICE leadership to ensure that field-level staff and law enforcement officers are following the directives set by the administration. Improved data collection and reporting on enforcement actions are necessary for effective oversight of ICE and to ensure that Trump’s blanket deportation policies are being reversed.