#6 Jose Spindola Immigration Under President Trump

One of President Trump's biggest claims during his campaign was that he would crack
down on illegal immigration. In recent days he has kept his word and signed an executive order
expanding the reach and power of immigration agents and authorized the construction of a
southern border wall. The executive order is not
clear cut but some objectives are clearly defined
such as restarting Secure communities,
investment in border control agencies, and
expedited removal of undocumented
immigrants.

Secure communities is a program that began

in 2008 and was administered by ICE agents.
The goal of the program was for immigration agents, Federal authorities, and local authorities to
cooperate and round up immigrants more efficiently. Early on the program caught snags when
local authorities deemed the program to cause a bias when walking their beats. The program was
ultimately replaced by PEP Priority Enforcement Program. Secure Communities is back in
the spotlight due to president Trump wanting to relaunch the program which would cast a larger
net around immigrant communities compared to PEP which focuses on the expedited removal
of dangerous immigrants. While Secure Communities would effectively deport any immigrant
caught by local authorities even for a misdemeanor.

DACA approved immigrants have also been on the chopping block but President Trump
has made it clear that they are not a priority or a target for deportation unless they have
committed crimes. Although he has increased the scope for expedited removal through his
executive order. Under president Obama immigrants found within a hundred mile radius of the
border and having only been present in the U.S.for less that 14 days could be immediately
expelled. Trumps change in policy now allows for the expedited removal of undocumented
immigrants who have been in the U.S. for less than two years. This vastly increases the reach of
expedited removal but deportation is not his only solution. The president is also planning to stop
immigrants at the source by investing in our border control agencies in order to properly secure
our border. This investment would also allocate funds for the construction of a border wall with
Mexico.

The long term effect by the president's decisions are still not clear but immigrants
families are feeling its immediate effects. The President claims to work for the American people
but his decisions might not come with the desired outcome.
Work Cited:
"Priority Enforcement Program." ICE. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2017.
"Trump immigration orders authorize wall, deportations." PolitiFact. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.

Ron Nixon and Michael D. Shear. "New Trump Deportation Rules Allow Far More Expulsions." The
New York Times. The New York Times, 21 Feb. 2017. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.