Department of Homeland Security Releases New Immigration Guidelines

Yesterday, the Department of Homeland Security released guidelines about who is to be prioritized for immigration enforcement following up on a set of interim guidelines released earlier in Biden’s presidency. The department is returning to the Obama-era immigration enforcement measures based on a priority system instead of a more aggressive approach that was taken under the Trump administration.  Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the approach takes into account the department’s limited resources and the fact that a ‘removable noncitizen should not alone be the basis of an enforcement action against them.’

The guidelines focus on national security, public safety and border security as well as place an emphasis on an officers discretion. The department also prioritizes certain undocumented immigrants for arrest and deportation which include terrorist suspects, those with serious criminal conduct or recent unlawful border-crosses. Also in the document, Mayorkas estimated there were at least 11 million undocumented people in the U.S.