Feds plan raids nationwide targeting families for deportation

Immigration officials are preparing a nationwide push in January to apprehend and deport Central American families who arrived in recent years and have been ordered by immigration judges to leave, according to officials familiar with the plan.

The stepped-up effort will target hundreds of families who decided to follow often-dangerous smuggling routes into the U.S., fleeing escalating violence and harsh economic conditions in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, but whose requests for asylum have been denied.

Agents are not planning to return to workplace raids or other dragnet-style tactics that can lead to the indiscriminate deportation of people in the country illegally, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal plans that have not been approved.

More than 100,000 families from Central America have crossed illegally into the U.S. since last year — most crossing into the U.S. over the Texas-Mexico border. Some have won permission to stay, but many have cases that are pending.

The deportation effort by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement removal officers would target Central American migrants who have arrived in the U.S. recently, whose requests for asylum have been denied and who have received a so-called “final order of removal” since Jan. 1, 2014, the officials said.

The effort was first reported in The Washington Post.

The new push is intended to send a signal to people thinking of making the treacherous journey to the U.S. from Central America that they won’t be able to stay if caught.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson has repeatedly said that those who came to the country illegally and didn’t meet requirements for protection would be deported. But there have been few public signs that officials were actually willing to follow through.

Officials fear that current policies have done little to deter Central American migrants, who illegally entered the U.S. in record numbers last year.

Court decisions over poor conditions for families in immigration detention facilities have limited the number of Central American parents with children who are kept in custody after being apprehended by border officials. Thousands of people have been released into the U.S. with a notice to appear later before an immigration judge.

Over the past two years, immigration officials have boosted the number of detention beds for families, but the facilities have been criticized as too harsh for children and are overtaxed.

“As secretary Johnson has consistently said, our border is not open to illegal immigration, and if individuals come here illegally, do not qualify for asylum or other relief, and have final orders of removal, they will be sent back consistent with our laws and our values,” Gillian Christensen, spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said in a statement.

She would not comment on plans for future law enforcement operations.

The reported plans drew sharp criticism from immigrant rights groups, who say that immigration court proceedings that lead to deportation orders are often flawed.

Michelle Brane, an advocate for immigrant rights at the Women’s Refugee Commission, said many refugees fleeing violence in Central America are not given enough information about how to describe why they left home and qualify for protection in the U.S.

“It is outrageous that the Administration plans to conduct raids on families who have fled persecution and violence,” Brane said in a statement Thursday.

“Instead of focusing on deporting families, the administration should finally recognize what this influx is about: refugees seeking protection at our border who, instead of being locked up, should be given a real chance to find a lawyer, understand how the process works, and make their case for asylum before a judge,” Brane said.

Campaign issue

The push to increase the pace of deportations comes in the middle of a heated election cycle that has seen immigration become a flash point on the campaign trail. GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump has called for deporting all 11 million people in the country illegally.

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, said he was “very disturbed” by reports that stepped-up deportations are being planned.

“As we spend time with our families this holiday season, we who are parents should ask ourselves what we would do if our children faced the danger and violence these children do,” he said in a statement.

“Our nation has always been a beacon of hope, a refuge for the oppressed. We cannot turn our backs on that essential element of who we are as a nation. We need to take steps to protect children and families seeking refuge here, not cast them out.”

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign also expressed concern Thursday over the plan but walked a fine line between criticizing the Obama administration and denouncing the plan outright.

“Hillary Clinton has real concerns about these reports, especially as families are coming together during this holiday season,” Clinton spokesperson Xochitl Hinojosa said in a statement. “She believes it is critical that everyone has a full and fair hearing, and that our country provides refuge to those that need it.

This report includes material from The Washington Post.

This story was originally published December 24, 2015 at 3:13 PM with the headline "Feds plan raids nationwide targeting families for deportation."