President Donald Trump has
finally bowed to pressure and signed executive order to prevent undocumented
immigrant families from being separated at the US-Mexico border.
Trump reversed his own policy amid
international condemnation over the separation of undocumented parents and
children.
According to BBC, he was moved by
the images of children who have been taken from parents while they are jailed
and prosecuted for illegal border-crossing.
However, the executive order does
not address families already separated by the policy.
Read the executive order as
provided by the White House:
“By the authority vested in me as
President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America,
including the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq., it
is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Policy. It is the
policy of this Administration to rigorously enforce our immigration laws. Under
our laws, the only legal way for an alien to enter this country is at a
designated port of entry at an appropriate time. When an alien enters or attempts
to enter the country anywhere else, that alien has committed at least the crime
of improper entry and is subject to a fine or imprisonment under section
1325(a) of title 8, United States Code. This Administration will initiate
proceedings to enforce this and other criminal provisions of the INA until and
unless Congress directs otherwise. It is also the policy of this Administration
to maintain family unity, including by detaining alien families together where
appropriate and consistent with law and available resources. It is unfortunate
that Congress’s failure to act and court orders have put the Administration in
the position of separating alien families to effectively enforce the law.
Sec. 2. Definitions. For purposes
of this order, the following definitions apply:
(a) “Alien family” means
(i) any person not a citizen or
national of the United States who has not been admitted into, or is not
authorized to enter or remain in, the United States, who entered this country
with an alien child or alien children at or between designated ports of entry
and who was detained; and
(ii) that person’s alien child or
alien children.
(b) “Alien child” means any
person not a citizen or national of the United States who
(i) has not been admitted into,
or is not authorized to enter or remain in, the United States;
(ii) is under the age of 18; and
(iii) has a legal parent-child
relationship to an alien who entered the United States with the alien child at
or between designated ports of entry and who was detained.
Sec. 3. Temporary Detention
Policy for Families Entering this Country Illegally. (a) The Secretary of
Homeland Security (Secretary), shall, to the extent permitted by law and
subject to the availability of appropriations, maintain custody of alien families
during the pendency of any criminal improper entry or immigration proceedings
involving their members.
(b) The Secretary shall not,
however, detain an alien family together when there is a concern that detention
of an alien child with the child’s alien parent would pose a risk to the
child’s welfare.
(c) The Secretary of Defense
shall take all legally available measures to provide to the Secretary, upon
request, any existing facilities available for the housing and care of alien
families, and shall construct such facilities if necessary and consistent with
law. The Secretary, to the extent permitted by law, shall be responsible for
reimbursement for the use of these facilities.
(d) Heads of executive
departments and agencies shall, to the extent consistent with law, make
available to the Secretary, for the housing and care of alien families pending
court proceedings for improper entry, any facilities that are appropriate for
such purposes. The Secretary, to the extent permitted by law, shall be responsible
for reimbursement for the use of these facilities.
(e) The Attorney General shall
promptly file a request with the U.S. District Court for the Central District
of California to modify the Settlement Agreement in Flores v. Sessions, CV
85-4544 (“Flores settlement”), in a manner that would permit the Secretary,
under present resource constraints, to detain alien families together
throughout the pendency of criminal proceedings for improper entry or any
removal or other immigration proceedings.
Sec. 4. Prioritization of
Immigration Proceedings Involving Alien Families. The Attorney General shall,
to the extent practicable, prioritize the adjudication of cases involving
detained families.
Sec. 5. General Provisions. (a)
Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law
to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the
Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary,
administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be
implemented in a manner consistent with applicable law and subject to the
availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended
to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its
departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any
other person.
DONALD J. TRUMP
THE WHITE HOUSE,
June 20, 2018.”
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com