WEB DESK
US Homeland Security Department has drafted sweeping new guidelines aimed at aggressively detaining and deporting immigrants living in the US illegally.
According to a pair of memoranda signed by Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, the new guidelines seek to implement US President Donald Trump’s broad directive to crack down on illegal immigration.
Kelly outlines plans to hire thousands of additional enforcement agents, expand on the priority list for immigrants marked for immediate removal and enlist local law enforcement to help make arrests.
He said, the surge of illegal immigration at the southern border has overwhelmed federal agencies and resources and has created a significant national security vulnerability to the United States.
Kelly said apprehensions on the southern US border had seen an additional surge of 10,000 to 15,000 per month from 2015 to 2016.
The new guidelines leave in place one directive from the Obama administration, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which allows young people who were brought into the country illegally as children to stay and obtain work permits.
The program has protected about 7.5 immigrants since its inception in 2012. Trump has previously indicated his desire to end the program, but at his press conference last week indicated that he would show great heart towards the program.