ICE Plans Deportations of Migrants to ‘Third Countries’ Amid Concerns Over Torture, Internal Memo Reveals

The Trump administration has introduced a controversial policy concerning the deportation of immigrants, allowing them to be sent to countries where they have no prior connections. This decision was confirmed in a memo from Acting Director Todd Lyons of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), issued on July 9.

The policy enables deportations with little warning, sometimes as brief as six hours, and allows for removals even in cases where there are substantial risks of persecution or torture in the destination country. According to the memo, ICE officers are now provided guidance on how to carry out these deportations to nations other than an immigrant’s country of origin.

The document states that if the United States has received diplomatic assurances from the destination country regarding the safety of the deported individuals, removals can proceed without additional legal procedures. However, if those assurances are lacking, ICE must follow specified protocols including notifying the immigrant of their removal and offering them a minimum notice period of 24 hours.

In urgent situations, however, the deportation can occur within just six hours. Notably, immigrants subjected to this policy may include those with final orders of removal and those from nations without diplomatic relations with the U.S., like Cuba.

Critics of the policy, including Trina Realmuto, Executive Director of the National Immigration Litigation Alliance, argue that it overlooks crucial legal protections. She highlighted that the memo facilitates a process devoid of due process guarantees and criticized the lack of transparency regarding the countries receiving deportees and the nature of diplomatic assurances made.

The Department of Homeland Security has defended the policy, stating it is part of efforts to remove dangerous individuals from the U.S. Additionally, a recent Supreme Court ruling has allowed the administration to proceed with these deportations, raising concerns among immigrant rights advocates about the implications for due process and the potential for violence against deportees.