The Shadow of Deportation

 The Shadow of Deportation

                  After all of the thought, time, saving, planning, and enduring of a long journey to a new country, a large worry still remains for many immigrants. Deportation. Today we are going to take a deeper look at the how, when, where, and why of just how deportation can happen for immigrants today in the USA. According to USA.gov, “Deportation is the process of removing a noncitizen from the U.S. for violating immigration law. The U.S. may detain and deport noncitizens who: Participate in criminal acts, are a threat to public safety, or violate their visa.” (USA.GOV) These rules have become incredibly flexible under the recent administration, and many immigrants have found themselves in unexpected situations and circumstances that are far from what would consider the American Dream. 

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                  Our two guests today, Liz Landers of PBS News and Josh Goodman of the Associated Press, discuss just how these sticky situations have come about recently.

“Every day, all across the country, asylum cases are being tossed out, and asylum seekers exit the courtroom into the waiting arms and cuffs of immigration officers, that according to a new report from the Associated Press headlined "Migrants thought they were in a court for a routine hearing. Instead, it was a deportation trap."

One of its authors, Josh Goodman, joins us now.” – Liz Landers

“Thank you.” – Josh Goodman

“In reporting this story, you and your colleagues went to 21 immigration courts. Can you describe the scene as you watch migrants walk into court and then walk out into a legal snare?” – Liz Landers

“Yes, we witnessed multiple arrests over several months. This was a routine practice by which government attorneys would go before a judge, dismiss a case, which would typically be a good outcome for someone trying to stay in the United States.

And as soon as they would leave the courtroom, they would be arrested by ICE agents or federal agents, frequently with masks. Nationwide, it's estimated that there were over 2,000 arrests in this manner. Some of the courts were quite chaotic, arresting people in hallways. People were being trapped in elevators. Journalists were being rough-handled, scenes of fathers being torn from their children, women begging federal agents to let their husbands go.

These are people who wanted to follow the rules. They didn't have a criminal record. They were making an asylum claim and going through all the stages that are required and were completely blindsided by what happened to them.” – Josh Goodman

“What has changed in these immigration courts under this new Trump administration?” – Liz Landers

“So these immigration courts were kind of structurally flawed from the very beginning. They are not part of the independent judiciary in the way that tax court or federal court or any multiple courts around the United States are.

They are part of the executive branch. They actually are part of the Justice Department. They had a degree of professionalism over time that was built up. And these judges were allowed to really rule like any other court. But they were always very vulnerable to some sort of takeover.

What we have seen now under the second Trump administration, they are effectively exploiting those vulnerabilities, issuing new orders about what judges can and cannot rule on. And they're really narrowing the scope that these judges have to decide the cases.” – Josh Goodman (PBS News)

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                  It truly is a scary world today in the USA for immigrants. According to USA Today, “The Trump administration has begun referring to immigration judges as "deportation judges" in a recruitment push to hire more officials to carry out the president's mass deportation campaign.” (USA Today) With this new hiring scheme in play, one can only hold on and hope for a brighter future in years to come for immigration to the USA and the hope of the American Dream.