The United States has expanded its powers to deport migrants without going to court first.
America is to introduce a new “fast-track” deportation rule that will bypass immigration courts.
Under the new rules, migrants who cannot prove they have been in the United States continuously for more than two years can be immediately deported.
According to the BBC, immediate deportations could only be applied to those detained near the border and who had been in the US for less than two weeks.
It’s expected that hundreds of thousands of people could be affected.
The change comes as there is reportedly not enough space to detain “the vast majority” of people arrested on the Mexican border as it currently stands.
Kevin McAleenan, acting secretary of Homeland Security, said the change would “help to alleviate some of the burden and capacity issues” at the border.
He added that it was “a necessary response to the ongoing immigration crisis”.
The decision is being referred to as a ‘massive and dangerous change’ by a number of critics.
There are about 10.5 million undocumented immigrants in the US, according to the Pew Research Center.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
