In order to reach 3,000 immigrants arrested, it’s no less important to violate laws and human rights. The United States seems like a lawless land.
A few weeks ago, Tom Homan, the border czar, received a reprimand from his superiors. “There are not enough arrests, you must increase the number of immigrants detained,” they told him.
The White House has demanded the agency sharply increase arrests of migrants in the U.S. illegally, sources have told Reuters. That has meant changing tactics to achieve higher quotas of 3,000 arrests per day, far above the earlier target of 1,000 per day.
The agency is staggering shifts so agents are available seven days a week to try to meet arrest goals and ask criminal investigators who usually focus on issues like human trafficking to help identify targets. It is also asking the public to call in tips to report illegal immigration.
ICE’s work is being aided by a new mapping app that locates people with deportation orders who can be swiftly expelled, drawn from data housed in agencies across the government, according to documents obtained by the press.
“I said it from Day 1, if you’re in the country illegally, you’re not off the table,” Thomas D. Homan, Mr. Trump’s border czar, said in an interview. “So, we’re opening that opening up.”
“You’re going to have people who are being pushed to the limit, who in a rush may not get things right, including information on a person’s status,” said Sarah Saldaña, who served as ICE’s director during the Obama administration. “All of that takes time and effort, and this push on numbers — exclusive of whether or not the job is being done right — is very concerning.”
Social networks have spread the arrest of American citizens, pregnant women, children, tourists and the use of violence regardless of the victim.
There are no excuses; the agents feel untouchable. But in the images, you can see them running after immigrants in the streets, in agricultural fields, on the roofs of houses… this is a terrible and, to some extent, comical situation.
In order to reach 3,000 immigrants arrested, it’s no less important to violate laws and human rights. The United States seems like a lawless land.
