Key points
- Officials generally wait at least 24 hours to deport someone
- They inform them of their removal to a so-called “third country”
- Supreme Court in June lifted a lower court’s order limiting such deportations
ISLAMABAD: US federal immigration officers may deport immigrants to countries other than their own, with as little as six hours’ notice, even if officials have not provided any assurances that the new arrivals will be safe from persecution or torture, a top official said in a memo.
Todd M Lyons, the acting director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, wrote in a memo to the ICE workforce Wednesday that a Supreme Court ruling last month had cleared the way for officers to “immediately” start sending immigrants to “alternative” countries.
“Exigent” circumstances
According to the Washington Post, people being sent to countries where officials have not provided any “diplomatic assurances” that immigrants will be safe will be informed 24 hours in advance — and in “exigent” circumstances, just six.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement will generally wait at least 24 hours to deport someone after informing them of their removal to a so-called “third country,” according to the memo.
ICE could remove them, however, to a so-called “third country” with as little as six hours’ notice “in exigent circumstances,” said the memo, as long as the person has been provided the chance to speak with an attorney.
The memo states that migrants could be sent to nations that have pledged not to persecute or torture them “without the need for further procedures.”
The new ICE policy suggests President Donald Trump’s administration could move quickly to send migrants to countries around the world.
The Supreme Court in June lifted a lower court’s order limiting such deportations without a screening for fear of persecution in the destination country.
