US may deport migrants to ‘third countries’ with just ‘six-hour’ notice: Report
The Trump administration memo reportedly said that immigration officials may use the ‘six-hour’ notice option only ‘in exigent circumstances’.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement may deport migrants to countries other than their home nations with just a six-hour notice, a top Trump administration official said in a memo, Reuters reported.
ICE generally will wait at least 24 hours to deport an individual after giving notice of their removal to a "third-country", the memo dated July 9, from the agency's acting director, Todd Lyons, said.
However, "in exigent circumstances", immigration officials could remove them to a so-called "third country" with as little as a six-hour notice, the memo noted.
The other nations, where the migrants could be sent, would be those that have pledged not to persecute or torture them "without the need for further procedures".
The new policy of the immigration office hints at President Donald Trump-led administration's possible quick move to send migrants to countries across the world.
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In June, the Supreme Court lifted a lower court's order restricting such deportations without checking for fear of persecution in third countries. The top US court paved a way for the Trump administration to resume deporting migrants to countries other than their own.
After the high court's ruling and an order from the justices, the ICE sent eight migrants from Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Myanmar, Sudan and Vietnam to South Sudan. Reportedly, the administration last week also pressed officials of five African nations, Liberia, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania and Gabon, to accept the deportees being sent from other places.
The administration has defended the move as a way of quickly removing migrants who should not be in the US, including those with criminal records and convictions.
Those against deportations said that it could be 'dangerous and cruel' as people could end up in places where they could face violence, have no ties and do not speak the language.
Trina Realmuto, a lawyer for a migrants' group fighting a class action lawsuit against deportations to third countries, said the new policy falls "far short of providing the statutory and due process protections that the law requires."
While third-country deportations have taken place in the past, the option could now be used more frequently as the US President tries to amplify the deportation process to new levels.
During his previous presidency from 2017-2021, Trump's administration deported a small group of people from El Salvador and Honduras to Guatemala.
