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The Obama administration's goal is to speed up deportations by making the existing process go faster
Because the process for dealing with child migrants is set down by law, it's not possible for the administration to implement a faster deportation process without changing the law. That's why the administration is considering asking Congress to change it themselves. (Some Republicans have suggested that the administration simply ignore existing law so that it can quickly deport all child migrants via "expedited removal" instead of putting them in front of an immigration judge, but the administration is clearly interested in changing the law rather than breaking it.)
A young boy in the Nogales processing center. Ross D. Franklin/Getty
But the administration's broader plan is to deport children and families who are already here more quickly by staffing up the immigration court system. It's announced surges of immigration judges and court staff to deal with children, and with Central American adults who were apprehended alone. Once it's opened family detention centers, it will send another court surge to process cases in those detention centers.
It's also changing the way that immigration court hearings are scheduled: now, judges are instructed to hear the cases of children and families who've recently come into the US before they hear the cases of other immigrants. (That will make the wait even longer for those immigrants whose cases get bumped.)
It typically takes months or years to get a hearing in immigration court. The administration's goal is to get through a case in a matter of days. One Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official told the press that the goal of the detention center opening in New Mexico is to deport a family within ten or fifteen days.
But immigration court hearings are also supposed to give immigrants the chance to establish that they're eligible for legal status. With the emphasis on deporting families and children quickly, it's not clear that they'll get the time, resources, or information they need to present a succes
Because the process for dealing with child migrants is set down by law, it's not possible for the administration to implement a faster deportation process without changing the law. That's why the administration is considering asking Congress to change it themselves. (Some Republicans have suggested that the administration simply ignore existing law so that it can quickly deport all child migrants via "expedited removal" instead of putting them in front of an immigration judge, but the administration is clearly interested in changing the law rather than breaking it.)
A young boy in the Nogales processing center. Ross D. Franklin/Getty
But the administration's broader plan is to deport children and families who are already here more quickly by staffing up the immigration court system. It's announced surges of immigration judges and court staff to deal with children, and with Central American adults who were apprehended alone. Once it's opened family detention centers, it will send another court surge to process cases in those detention centers.
It's also changing the way that immigration court hearings are scheduled: now, judges are instructed to hear the cases of children and families who've recently come into the US before they hear the cases of other immigrants. (That will make the wait even longer for those immigrants whose cases get bumped.)
It typically takes months or years to get a hearing in immigration court. The administration's goal is to get through a case in a matter of days. One Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official told the press that the goal of the detention center opening in New Mexico is to deport a family within ten or fifteen days.
But immigration court hearings are also supposed to give immigrants the chance to establish that they're eligible for legal status. With the emphasis on deporting families and children quickly, it's not clear that they'll get the time, resources, or information they need to present a succes