Original Article by Miriam Valverde
Five days after his inauguration, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to increase ICE deportation officers, a move that’s in line with one of his top campaign promises.
Trump’s executive order directs the secretary of homeland security, through the director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to “take all appropriate action to hire 10,000 additional immigration officers, who shall complete relevant training and be authorized to perform the law enforcement functions described in section 287 of the INA (8 U.S.C. 1357).”
Powers vested in that section of the Immigration and Nationality Act include the ability to arrest an individual who is entering or attempting to enter the United States illegally and to question individuals as to their right to be in the country.
ICE, an agency within the Department of Homeland Security, has about 20,000 employees, including an estimated 5,800 deportation officers who identify, apprehend and remove deportable immigrants.
Trump’s promise is to triple the number of ICE deportation officers, and by adding 10,000 officers it gets pretty close to tripling the number.
On Jan. 25, Trump told immigration enforcement employees that his executive orders (he also signed an executive order to build a wall on U.S.-Mexico border) will empower ICE officers “to target and remove those who pose a threat to public safety, calls for the hiring of another 5,000 border patrol officers, calls for the tripling of the number of ICE officers.”
“And you both do an incredible job, but you need help, you need more,” Trump said.
The executive orders signed Jan. 25 say the additional hirings shall be carried out to the extent permitted by law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
Pending funding and hiring, we rate this promise In the Works.