Press Release  AG Healey Calls on Trump Administration to Withdraw Rule That Risks Deportation of Lawful Residents

BOSTON — Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey today joined a coalition of attorneys general in opposing the Trump Administration’s new rule that vastly expands the use of expedited removal, allowing federal immigration officials to engage in deportation without due process.

In a comment letter sent today, the attorneys general call on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to rescind the expedited removal rule, which was issued without advance notice or opportunity for public comment. The rule authorizes the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to deport certain individuals living anywhere in the United States without the due process protections afforded in normal removal proceedings, such as the right to an attorney or a hearing before a judge with witnesses and the opportunity to present evidence and defenses. The rule significantly increases the risk that lawful residents will be erroneously deported.

“This is yet another cruel and dangerous policy from the Trump Administration that could result in the separation of countless families and the wrongful deportation of thousands of lawful immigrants,” AG Healey said. “We call on the Administration to immediately withdraw this illegal policy.”

In 2004, the federal government extended the use of expedited removal to include undocumented individuals who were apprehended within 14 days of arrival in the United States by land and within 100 miles of any land border. Now, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is allowing expedited removal proceedings to be used to deport undocumented immigrants apprehended anywhere in the United States if the individuals cannot establish, to the satisfaction of a line-level immigration officer, that they have continuously resided in the country for two years. The rule lacks a clear legal standard, and as such, immigration officials can impose an inconsistent or unclear burden of proof on detained individuals. Despite the great potential for error in the expedited removal process, it results in final deportation orders that are not generally subject to judicial review. Lawful residents, U.S. citizens, asylees, or other individuals with legal protections that enable them to remain in the country could be, and have been, mistakenly subjected to deportation.

The attorneys general assert in today’s comment letter that the policy will inflict serious harm on the families and communities living in their states. For instance, mixed-status households with both lawful and undocumented residents may be torn apart with little or no time to prepare or seek legal representation. The prospect of sudden and unexpected separation can cause children to experience serious mental health problems, including depression and anxiety. These harms are worsened when fears of forcible family separation come true. In addition, because of the rule, immigrants may be even less likely to report crime or exploitation or seek needed medical care, negatively affecting public safety and health.

The disruption and harm to local communities and families would be particularly acute in Massachusetts, where one in five workers is an immigrant, and undocumented immigrants pay an estimated $185 million in taxes each year

AG Healey has led a number of efforts against the Trump Administration’s illegal and unconstitutional immigration policies, including challenging the terminations of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and Temporary Protected Status, programs that provide protection against removal for hundreds of thousands of long-term residents of the United States. Last month, AG Healey co-led a coalition of 20 attorneys general in a comment letter demanding that the Trump Administration withdraw a proposed rule that would ban asylum for anyone who travels through a third country on the way to the United States and does not first apply for asylum in that country. In July 2019, AG Healey co-led a coalition of 20 attorneys general on a brief urging protection for children held in inhumane conditions at the border. In February 2019, AG Healey joined 19 attorneys general in filing a brief challenging the Trump Administration’s “turnback policy,” which effectively halted the asylum process at the southern border for thousands of people waiting to present their claims. In June 2018, AG Healey co-led a coalition of 18 states in suing the Trump Administration over its illegal policy of forcibly separating families at the southern border.

Joining AG Healey in filing today’s comment letter are the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia.

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