The administration of US President Donald Trump has changed the method of implementing campaigns to deport irregular immigrants, by reducing their media appearance while keeping the pace of operations at an increase, in an attempt to achieve its immigration goals while reducing political controversy, according to American reports.
Politico magazine reported that Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullen, who assumed his duties three months ago, adopted a new approach based on implementing immigration enforcement procedures more calmly, through coordination with state and local law enforcement authorities, and focusing on immigrants who are already in detention, instead of carrying out large-scale raids that receive significant media coverage.
The report added that the administration has stopped sending large numbers of ICE agents to specific cities as was previously done, and there are no plans to return this method before the midterm congressional elections.
Reports also indicated that the administration has retreated from some previous plans, including converting warehouses into detention centers and reducing rapid training programs to increase the number of immigration enforcement agents.
The White House confirmed that deportations are still expanding, expecting that a recent Supreme Court decision regarding the Temporary Protection Program (TPS) will contribute to expanding the circle of people eligible for deportation, including hundreds of thousands of Haitians.
In parallel, Trump continued to criticize the immigration policies adopted by the administration of former President Joe Biden, and published posts on the “Truth Social” platform in which he attacked what he described as “Biden’s borders,” in addition to comments that dealt with issues related to immigration.
In a related context, an investigation conducted by ProPublica revealed that the rates of detention and deportation of unaccompanied immigrant children rose significantly during Trump’s second term, nearly tripling compared to the last period of his first term, even though most of them do not face criminal charges.
The number of deportation or voluntary departure orders issued against minors, whether accompanied by their families or alone, has also increased, as the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency prepares to open a new facility in the state of Louisiana to expedite the deportation of families and children.
On the political level, the immigration issue continues to cause division within the Republican Party, as conservatives demand tightening border security measures, while moderate Republican representatives call for the adoption of legal paths for residency and the expansion of temporary protection programs for some categories of immigrants.
The immigration file is one of the most prominent axes of Trump’s political program, as he has pledged since his return to the White House to implement the largest campaign to deport irregular immigrants in the history of the United States. While the administration confirms that the current measures aim to strengthen border security and law enforcement, human rights organizations believe that tightening deportation policies, especially against families and children, raises humanitarian and legal concerns, at a time when this issue is expected to remain at the center of the political debate as the midterm congressional elections approach.
