New Delhi: The US Department of Homeland Security has issued latest memos on Tuesday vastly expanding the power of authorities to deport illegal immigrants. The memos broadly deal under two heads—interior immigration enforcement and border security—and will apply to roughly 11 million undocumented men, women and children living in the US.
Clubbed with the month-old Donald Trump administration’s controversial executive order on travel ban on seven Muslim countries last month, these memos seek to expand and allow virtually everyone who is in the US without legal documentation eligible for deportation and in some cases, in an expedited fashion.
Here’s how the US and international media has reacted to the Donald Trump administration’s latest attempt to curb and deport illegal immigrants:
■ The New York Times: “They are remarkable for how completely they turn sensible immigration policies upside down and backward. For how they seek to make the deportation machinery more extreme and frightening (and expensive), to the detriment of deeply held American values.”
■ CNN: “Trump’s immigration policies offer a troubling view of what lies ahead for immigrant families and their allies. For Latinos, this may mean a greater threat of racial profiling and the risk of being mistakenly caught up in enforcement actions. For all Americans, it marks a dark, disturbing chapter in our history as a nation of immigrants,” writes Paul A Reyes, a columnist.
■ The Los Angeles Times: “The United States has always attracted immigrants. Welcoming newcomers from around the world has been to our demographic, economic and social benefit. Building a wall on the border with Mexico will cost us dearly, in dollars spent and much more. If the wall succeeds in keeping migrants out, we won’t have a labour force big enough and young enough to support our economy, let alone to “make America great again,” writes Jennifer Dabbs Sciubba.
■ The Washington Post: “…a streak of cruelty runs through the new policy. For instance, it seeks to deter the entry of unaccompanied minors by threatening to prosecute parents if they paid smugglers to help their children cross the border. Deterrence is a fair goal if achieved by humane means. In this case, the administration’s policies will break up families and harm people leading peaceable lives.”
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■ The New Yorker: “In the case of these orders, there is the large and lurking idea that immigrants in general are dangerous, even murderous threats—stealing jobs, stealing lives, the explanation for all that is wrong—and that if that danger is not manifest today, it will be tomorrow. When Trump sets “priorities,” he does so like a bully, trying to find who is weakest and least protected. The question is whether the neighbours of the undocumented will stand up for them, or look away,” writes Amy Davidson.
■ Irish Central: “Under the new guidelines issued by the Department of Homeland Security, Donald Trump should order his wife deported back to Slovenia. Fox News reported she had worked illegally when she came to America first. Given that today it was announced that the description of a crime committed by an immigrant has widened, Melania seems to fit the bill exactly,” writes Niall O’Dowd.
■ The Financial Times: “The moves continue Mr Trump’s breakneck effort to demonstrate early progress towards fulfilling the campaign promises that fuelled his election victory,” writes David J. Lynch.
■ Toronto Sun: “Trump is an economic and social threat to Canada. He’s a threat to democratic America. Canada should be working with like-minded nations to constrain him. Shining-up Trump’s image and undermining US progressives is against our interests—unless you can’t see past next quarter’s profit report,” writes Tom Parkin.
