Miami Herald

Hundreds have been deported under Biden, including massacre witness

- BY NOMAAN MERCHANT

President Joe Biden’s administra­tion has deported hundreds of immigrants in its early days despite his campaign pledge to stop removing most people in the U.S. illegally at the beginning of his term.

A federal judge last week ordered the Biden administra­tion not to enforce a 100day moratorium on deportatio­ns, but the ruling did not require the government to schedule them. In recent days, U.S. Immigratio­n and Customs Enforcemen­t has deported immigrants to at least three countries: 15 people to Jamaica on Thursday and 269 people to Guatemala and Honduras on Friday. More deportatio­n flights were scheduled Monday.

It’s unclear how many of those people are considered national-security or publicsafe­ty threats or had recently crossed the border illegally, the priority under new guidance that the Department of Homeland Security issued to enforcemen­t agencies and took effect Monday.

Some of the people put on the flights might have been expelled — which is a quicker process than deportatio­n — under a public-health order that former President Donald Trump invoked during the coronaviru­s pandemic and that Biden has kept in place.

In the border city of El Paso, Texas, immigratio­n authoritie­s on Friday deported a woman who witnessed the 2019 massacre that left 22 people dead at a Walmart. She had agreed to be a witness against the gunman and has met with the a district attorney’s office, according to her lawyers.

Rosa was pulled over Wednesday for a broken brake light, detained based on previous traffic warrants, then transferre­d to ICE, which deported her before she could reach her attorney, said Melissa Lopez, executive director of the nonprofit Diocesan Migrant & Refugee Services, which represents her.

Rosa is being identified only by her first name because she fears for her safety in Juarez, a city across the U.S.-Mexico border from El Paso that’s known for violence and gang activity.

Jail records confirm that Rosa was booked into the El Paso jail on Wednesday for the warrants and left Friday. ICE had issued what’s known as a “detainer,” seeking to hold her on immigratio­n violations the day she was arrested, according to the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office.

The El Paso district attorney’s office confirmed in a statement Monday that it had given Rosa’s attorneys the documentat­ion needed to request a U.S. visa for crime victims. But the statement

also said Rosa “is not a victim of the Walmart shooting case.” The district attorney did not immediatel­y respond to follow-up questions.

Her lawyers say Rosa pleaded guilty in 2018 to driving under the influence and ICE later released her, underscori­ng that authoritie­s under Trump previously found she wasn’t a threat to the public, Lopez said.

Both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris vocally opposed the Trump administra­tion’s immigratio­n priorities during the presidenti­al campaign.

“It’s important that President Biden and Vice President Harris realize that despite their very clear desires about how immigrants are treated, we continue to see on a local level immigrants being mistreated and disregarde­d,” Lopez said.

ICE said Friday that it had deported people to Jamaica and that it was in compliance with last week’s court order. The agency did not respond to several requests for further comments on additional deportatio­n flights or Rosa’s case.

Officials in Honduras confirmed that 131 people were on a deportatio­n flight that landed Friday. Another flight that landed in Guatemala on Friday had 138 people, with an additional 30 people expected to arrive Monday, officials there said.

The White House referred questions to the Department of Homeland Security, but a spokesman did not return requests for comments.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, whose district includes El Paso, said her office had flagged Rosa’s case to the White House.

“My concern is that ICE will continue to move quickly before the Biden administra­tion has an opportunit­y to make assessment­s and provide further directives,” Escobar said Monday.

Two legal experts say that regardless of the judge’s order on the deportatio­n moratorium, ICE could release immigrants with deportatio­n orders, keep people detained or otherwise delay the deportatio­n process.

“Scheduling deportatio­ns is still a matter of discretion for the agency,” said Steve Yale-Loehr, an immigratio­nlaw professor at Cornell University.

U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton last week granted a temporary restrainin­g order that was sought by Texas and bars enforcemen­t of a 100day deportatio­n moratorium that had gone into effect Jan. 22. Tipton said the Biden administra­tion had violated the federal Administra­tive Procedure Act in issuing the moratorium and had not proven why a pause in deportatio­ns was necessary.

Tipton on Friday said he would extend his order through Feb. 23. The Justice Department has not yet asked Tipton or a federal appeals court to block the order.

Biden is expected to issue a series of immigratio­nrelated executive orders Tuesday amid the expected confirmati­on of Alejandro Mayorkas as Homeland Security secretary. Those orders are expected to include the formation of a task force to reunify families separated during the Trump administra­tion.

 ?? MEG KINNARD AP ?? Joe Biden talks with a protester at Lander University in Greenwood, S.C., on Nov. 21, 2019. Now-President Biden’s administra­tion has deported hundreds of people despite his campaign pledge to halt most deportatio­ns at the beginning of his term.
MEG KINNARD AP Joe Biden talks with a protester at Lander University in Greenwood, S.C., on Nov. 21, 2019. Now-President Biden’s administra­tion has deported hundreds of people despite his campaign pledge to halt most deportatio­ns at the beginning of his term.

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