New Biden rules for ICE point to fewer arrests and deportations, and a more restrained agency

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is preparing to issue new guidelines to agents this week that could sharply curb arrests and deportations, as the Biden administration attempts to assert more control over an agency afforded wide latitude under President Donald Trump, according to internal memos and emails obtained by The Washington Post.

While ICE’s new operational plans are not yet final, interim instructions sent to senior officials point to a major shift in enforcement. Agents will no longer seek to deport immigrants for crimes such as driving under the influence and assault, and will focus instead on national security threats, recent border crossers and people completing prison and jail terms for aggravated felony convictions.

“Generally, these convictions would not include drug based crimes (less serious offenses), simple assault, DUI, money laundering, property crimes, fraud, tax crimes, solicitation, or charges without convictions,” acting director Tae Johnson told senior officials in a Thursday email advising them on how to operate while new guidelines are finalized.

The Biden administration is attempting to reorient ICE, a law enforcement agency that has seen its priorities swing wildly from one administration to the next. But frustrated ICE officials say the proposed changes will take away agents’ discretion and severely constrain their ability to arrest and deport criminals.

Hidden way down in the story...

"The leadership change at ICE has made the agency more responsive to the legal and immigrant advocacy groups that were shunned by the Trump administration, emails show.

When ICE scheduled a deportation flight to Africa for earlier this month, lawyers and activist groups sent urgent requests to political appointees at the White House and DHS, asking them to intervene.

Their request asked for the administration to give the deportees more time to pursue humanitarian claims in immigration courts, noting that the flight to majority-Black countries had been scheduled during Black History Month, emails show. Within hours, the acting director of ICE wrote to senior staff, stopping the deportations.

A senior ICE official declined to comment on deportation flights, because they are internal law enforcement operations.

Sirine Shebaya, executive director of the National Immigration Project, a legal aid group, said the new priorities are the “humane and right thing to do,” especially because ICE often arrests people swept up by a police system under scrutiny for targeting people of color."

I'm using the Post as a source, because the other sources that talk about this might be considered "rayciss".

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