Trump to Take Expedited Removal Nationwide

IRLI supports long-overdue full enforcement of law.

WASHINGTON—The Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) has submitted a comment to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) supporting the Administration’s recent notice that it will remove geographical limits on screening apprehended aliens for expedited removal.

At present, aliens apprehended in the United States within 100 miles of a land border who are not carrying immigration papers (as they are required to by law) and can show neither that they have been continuously present in the United States for more than two years nor that they have a “credible fear” of persecution in the home countries are immediately removed from the United States in a process called “expedited removal.” The law establishing expedited removal gives the executive branch the discretion to expand the geographic scope of this procedure. Using that authority, the Trump administration has decided to expand expedited removal to its full geographic extent: the entire United States.

Anti-borders activists fear this move because it will help unclog the removal system and result in the deportation of more illegal aliens, even as it discourages future illegal entrants. In its comment, IRLI defends the proposed rule against predictable attacks on its constitutionality and conformity with international norms.

“Expedited removal is fully constitutional and must be the keystone of a sustainable American immigration policy,” explained Dale L. Wilcox, executive director and general counsel of IRLI. “Today citizens feel real fear when confronted with highly organized disinformation attacks on the laws meant to protect them against mass illegal entries. IRLI’s legal arguments rebut bad faith accusations that expedited removal violates the due process rights of foreigners, and that our long-established inspection laws, similar to the civil enforcement laws of most nations worldwide, are somehow morally objectionable.”

DHS’s Notice is Designating Aliens for Expedited Removal, 84 Fed. Reg. 35409 (July 23, 2019). 

For additional information, contact: Brian Lonergan • 202-232-5590 • [email protected]