US to revert to targeted immigration enforcement
Losing power can ‘be a matter of life and death’
“By focusing our limited resources on cases that present threats to national security, border security, and public safety, our agency will more ably and effectively execute its law enforcement mission.”
Tae Johnson
ICE acting director
WASHINGTON – Immigration enforcement in the U.S. would be more targeted under President Joe Biden than under his predecessor, with authorities directed to focus on people in the country illegally who pose a threat, according to guidelines released Thursday.
The guidelines set a new course for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which drew fierce criticism under President Donald Trump for arresting and removing anyone in the country illegally regardless of criminal history or community ties.
Under Biden, ICE would primarily apprehend and remove people who pose a threat to national security, committed crimes designated as “aggravated” felonies or recently crossed the border.
It is the latest break from Trump’s immigration policies, but it is also far from the notion of “abolish ICE” that became a rallying cry among some progressives angered by what they considered indiscriminate enforcement.
Trump, whose administration took hundreds of measures to restrict legal and illegal immigration, early on directed ICE to apprehend anyone who was in the country illegally. In June 2019, he tweeted that “next week ICE will begin the process of removing the millions of illegal aliens who have illicitly found their way into the United States.”
That never happened. Deportations were higher under the first term of President Barack Obama, who also made national security and public safety an enforcement priority, than under Trump in part because many cities and states, opposed to his administration’s approach to immigration, balked at cooperating with ICE on removals.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, portrayed the new guidelines, which are considered temporary until a permanent policy comes down in about three months, as a more effective use of resources at an agency that has about 20,000 law enforcement and support personnel.
“By focusing our limited resources on cases that present threats to national security, border security, and public safety, our agency will more ably and effectively execute its law enforcement mission,” ICE acting Director Tae Johnson said. “Like every law enforcement agency at the local, state, and federal level, we must prioritize our efforts to achieve the greatest security and safety impact.”
ICE officers and agents have expressed concern in recent days about a top-down directive that will limit their ability to conduct enforcement operations and result in potentially dangerous people slipping away, said Jon Feere, a senior adviser to ICE under Trump.
Feere noted that worksite enforcement operations, which occurred more frequently under Trump, typically result in charges such as identity theft or fraud. Those wouldn’t qualify as aggravated felonies but nonetheless can be useful crimes to pursue as part of efforts to break up smuggling rings and traffickers.
“Not allowing ICE to carry out its responsibilities as it does now is a de facto dismantling of the agency,” Feere said. “And what is the policy rationale? Who wins from all of this? The smugglers? The traffickers?”
The new guidelines could shield a substantial number of people.
For Hannah Giffin, electric power is as critical as the air she breathes.
The 24-year-old who was recently diagnosed with four new chronic illnesses relies on an oxygen concentrator to help her breathe, but when the power went out Tuesday in San Marcos, Texas, she was forced to ration her oxygen.
“It’s been emotionally exhausting,” she said. “Not knowing if we’re going to have power to supply my ability to breathe is terrifying.”
No emergency services could refill her oxygen tanks and because her lung disease puts her at high risk for COVID-19, going to the hospital wasn’t an option. Feeling isolated and hopeless, she and her mother, Kristin, turned to social media to try to get a generator or oxygen tanks from FEMA.
“My husband and I were just beside ourselves,” Kristin Giffin said. “We can’t sleep because we’re thinking about what happens to her if her oxygen runs out.”
Freezing temperatures and winter storms have caused widespread power outages across the country leaving people with disabilities and chronic illnesses scrambling to find ways to access life-saving medical supplies and charge devices they depend on.
For people with disabilities and chronic health conditions, losing power can “be a matter of life and death,” according to Jane Buchanan, acting director of the disability rights division at Human Rights Watch.
Earlier in the week, more than 4 million in Texas alone didn’t have electricity after large shares of the state’s power plants were kicked off its grid. More than 1 million people were without power Thursday, including more than 400,000 customers in Texas, and widespread outages were reported in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky and Oregon.
The winter weather has claimed as many as 36 lives this week, some of whom died while struggling to find warmth inside their homes.
Older people, people with chronic conditions and people with disabilities will likely be disproportionately impacted by the outages, advocates say.
“Losing electricity just exacerbates the inequalities that already exist for marginalized people, but specifically for those that are energy-dependent, transportation-dependent, healthcare-dependent,” Stephanie Duke, an attorney at Disability Rights Texas said. “It’s the mechanisms and processes we have in place that create more barriers.”
The disability community has a diverse set of needs that could be impacted by the loss of power and water. Electricity is needed to power medical devices like motorized wheelchairs, CPAP machines and respirators. Poor weather can also prevent people from getting refills for essential medication and caretakers from reaching patients.
In Texas, while larger hospitals and facilities are fairing better, people who live alone or in smaller nursing homes and assisted living facilities are stuck without supplies, according to Duke.
Duke, also a disaster resilience fellow at Equal Justice Works, said that Texas has seen huge demand for generators, oxygen and transportation to warming centers. If they have a serious medical need, people with disabilities may have to go to a hospital, which could come with unforeseen costs.
That was the case for Ashlynn Hoffner, 32, who was forced to call an ambulance after the battery on her partner’s oxygen machine ran low.
KD Hoffner, 31, is chronically ill with heart and kidney problems requiring dialysis every few days and an oxygen concentrator to breathe. Their concentrator must be constantly plugged in and would only last a few hours on back-up power after the electricity went out at 2:30 a.m. Monday. Hoffner, who works for IBM, guided emergency service workers through her dark home in Richardson. The pair spent the next few days staying with friends and at a shelter and making long drives in icy conditions for dialysis appointments.
“I’m happy to have been able to keep them stable. That was very uncertain for the first day,” Ashlynn Hoffner said.
While the power is back on in their apartment, they don’t have water and Hoffner said they’ve received little help from the local government.
“I won’t lie, it is very frustrating,” she said. “It feels like the government response to this has either been ambivalent or just outright hostile.”
Mila Clarke Buckley, a 31-year-old living with Type 1.5 diabetes, also expressed frustration at the lack of communication from local authorities. She said although she learned how to prepare for natural disasters like hurricanes while living in Houston, no one warned her of the severity of the winter storm.
If her insulin is not stored at a specific temperature, it must be used within 28 days. When she realized she would be without consistent power for days, she worried that much of her $1,200 3-month supply would go to waste.
“That’s when I think I started to panic,” Buckley said. “It didn’t seem like there was any end in sight.”
To keep the medication cool she put it outside in an Amazon box with ice packs and a Bluetooth thermometer, normally used for grilling, and monitored the temperature remotely on her phone. Although her temporary fix worked, she’s worried about keeping it up as the temperatures change.
“There was a certain point I just wanted to give up,” she said.
The “massive” lack of preparation is a result of federal, state and local officials failing to engage with organizations led by people with disabilities, according to Germán Parodi, co-executive director of the Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies.
Parodi said the FEMA office responsible for the safety of Americans with disabilities has reduced its staff dramatically in the past five years, and local officials have failed to invite people with disabilities to the planning and response process. “The disability community in Texas has been ignored,” he said.
For the Giffins, power is back on and if it goes out again, a stranger from Austin has offered to deliver them a generator. Kristen Giffin said the outpouring of support from the community has been “overwhelming.”
“I think a lot of good is born out of tragedy,” she said. “We’re interested in making that happen now.”