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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsExclusive: Trump team drafting plan to deport more young people - Central American teens
Exclusive: Trump team drafting plan to deport more young people Central American teens
By Franco Ordoñez
September 20, 2017 7:07 PM
WASHINGTON
The Trump administration is weighing a new policy that would fast-track the deportation of thousands of Central American teenagers who arrived at the southern border, unaccompanied by adults.
According to two sources with knowledge of the developing policy proposal, the Justice Department under Attorney General Jeff Sessions wants to avoid creating a new protected class of undocumented immigrants, given how politically difficult it has been for the administration to unwind another program DACA, which protected young people brought by adults to the country illegally when they were children.
This new policy would call for expedited deportation of another group the more than 150,000 children who arrived at the southern border alone, escaping violence and poverty in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. Under the plan being discussed, teens in this group would be sent back to their countries when they turn 18 under a fast-track deportation, which means they would not see an immigration judge first.
This administration still has its hands somewhat tied with what it can do with that population, said a U.S. official familiar with the discussions. Because the law, especially for the children, doesnt give the administration a lot of flexibility with how to deal with unaccompanied children.
The proposal is being drafted via memos circulated between the Justice and Homeland Security Departments. It has set off an aggressive debate inside these departments among staff charged with reducing illegal immigration, government lawyers who worry about legal exposure and political operatives who see the public controversy this could fuel.
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http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article174488221.html
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(3,764 posts)Aren't these kids elegible for TPS (Temporary Protected Status). My husband is from Honduras and he has been on TPS for 20 years. We are trying to get him Permanent Resident status since we worry that Congress won't reauthorize Honduras next time around. He was told he wasn't eligible to get it since he was deported but his friend had been deported and he was able to get a waiver so we went to a lawyer. Turns out that the lawyer thinks he probably wasn't deported but that it was a "voluntary removal", and if that's the case he's eligible for a marriage petition. We are waiting for FOI request to make sure.