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John,
For far too long, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has used meaningless priorities to subject long-term residents and families to harsh penalties like detention and deportation.
But the Biden administration just issued new interim enforcement priorities for all ICE personnel. These updated priorities will hopefully allow us to chart a new path forward.
The new guidance will make several critical changes, including:
- Focusing enforcement actions on a far more limited group of individuals.
- Requiring ICE officers to receive approval to pursue enforcement actions against people who fall outside of the priorities.
- Mandating weekly reporting to the ICE director of all enforcement actions.
Collectively, these changes could help the Biden administration begin the difficult work of holding ICE accountable. This will hopefully do much more to protect people from unjust enforcement than previous administrations’ priorities.
A great deal of work is ahead—including the need to review the cases of 14,000 people who remain in detention. The American Immigration Council will continue to push for changes that help protect immigrants and families across the country.
Sincerely,
Jorge Loweree
Policy Director
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