Observers note President Trump rode into office promising to secure U.S. borders and embark on a program of mass deportations of the millions of people in the country illegally.<\/p>\n
\n
Supporters argue Trump\u2019s policies have been wildly successful\u2014but reports indicate he\u2019s not done yet.<\/p>\n
Media reports note federal immigration agents have arrested multiple travelers at airports across the country this month, detaining individuals at departure gates, on jet bridges, and near terminal shops as the Trump administration continues its push to reach a goal of 2,000 immigration arrests per day.<\/p>\n
Airport arrests are part of a broader effort by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to expand immigration enforcement through a variety of tactics, including increased scrutiny of travelers with expired visas.<\/p>\n
\n
Earlier this month, for example, reports indicate a woman was detained at an airport in the Washington, D.C., area while traveling to Texas for her father\u2019s funeral, according to her attorney, Joe Moravec.<\/p>\n
\n
Moravec said the woman, who requested anonymity, entered the United States legally and is currently seeking asylum. She is now being held in Virginia, CNN reported.<\/p>\n
Moravec also said another of his clients was detained at Chicago\u2019s airport.<\/p>\n
According to the attorney, that individual was also legally present in the United States and is currently being held by ICE.<\/p>\n
\n
That said, observers note border czar Tom Homan has repeatedly stated that immigration enforcement agents are only targeting illegal alien criminals and anyone who has been issued an order to leave the country by an immigration judge but has failed to do so, regardless of whether they initially entered the U.S. legally.<\/p>\n
He has also stated that many foreigners who come into the country on a visa overstay and fail to leave when the visa expires.<\/p>\n
\n
A DHS spokesperson said in a statement to CNN that \u201cthis administration is working diligently to ensure that aliens in our country illegally can no longer fly unless it is out of our country to self-deport.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot that an airport is a sacred place, but for sure, enforcement at airports is nothing we\u2019ve ever seen, neither is cooperation between TSA and ICE,\u201d Jeff Joseph, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, told the outlet.<\/p>\n
\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the mousetrap. That\u2019s the cheese,\u201d he added, a reference to aliens who are in the immigration process and being detained at airports.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the new expectation is that if you have a pending application, you can\u2019t travel \u2026 that would be very, very new,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\n
Reports indicate senior Department of Homeland Security officials adjusted immigration enforcement operations following two fatal shootings involving ICE officers this month.<\/p>\n
Both incidents, one in Houston and the other in Maine, began after ICE officers initiated traffic stops. And in both, ICE agents say the suspects attempted to strike them with their vehicles.<\/p>\n
Legal experts note courts have repeatedly found that law enforcement officials can consider vehicles to be deadly weapons.<\/p>\n
Although airport arrests are not a new enforcement tactic under the Trump administration, media reports note immigration attorneys and advocates say they have become increasingly common in recent weeks, CNN said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re under pressure to ramp up arrests, it\u2019s all about what is the fastest and easiest way to get people into custody,\u201d said John Sandweg, former acting ICE director under the Obama administration.<\/p>\n
Political analysts point out President Obama deported so many illegal migrants he was nicknamed \u201cDeporter-in-Chief.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n
There are several reasons immigration agents may choose to conduct arrests at airports, CNN noted.<\/p>\n
\n
Through the Transportation Security Administration, the Department of Homeland Security receives passenger information before flights, allowing authorities to identify individuals of interest in advance.<\/p>\n
\n
Airports also provide a controlled environment where security screening means travelers are generally not carrying weapons, former officials say.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt makes for an easy immigration arrest for ICE,\u201d Sandweg told the outlet.<\/p>\n
\n
\u201cYou can now take custody of that person in a secure environment. They come to you,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\n
\u201cYou know exactly when and where they\u2019re going to be. And because you\u2019re getting them in a secure environment, you need less agents.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Observers note President Trump rode into office promising to secure U.S. borders and embark on a program of mass deportations of the millions of people in the country illegally. Supporters argue Trump\u2019s policies have been wildly successful\u2014but reports indicate he\u2019s not done yet. Media reports note federal immigration agents have arrested multiple travelers at airports […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":249,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-politic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitolpulsed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitolpulsed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitolpulsed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitolpulsed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitolpulsed.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=248"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/capitolpulsed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":250,"href":"https:\/\/capitolpulsed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248\/revisions\/250"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitolpulsed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitolpulsed.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitolpulsed.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitolpulsed.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}