- Статьи
- World
- They went too far: raids at US airports put an end to the previous policy of hospitality
They went too far: raids at US airports put an end to the previous policy of hospitality
The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) service began a raid on foreigners who remained in the country after the expiration of the permitted period of stay right at the airports. Anyone with an expired visa, even those with a family, job, or residence permit, is at risk of being distributed. The authorities have embarked on a clean—up policy, aiming to achieve a record number of deportations - up to 2,000 per day. However, the harsh immigration policy threatens Republicans with losing control of Congress, because the new electorate of Texas and a number of other traditionally "red" states is ready to vote for the Democrats. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
The raids began
"Plainclothes security personnel are searching for and detaining foreigners at check—in counters and boarding gates," The New York Times (NYT) reported. To do this, they used data that the airlines provided to the U.S. Transportation Security Administration.
According to the newspaper, such cases were recorded at least at 15 airports. In some cases, they passed quietly and unnoticed, in others — with scandals that other passengers managed to capture on their phones.
The detainees also turned out to be people who applied for a residence permit or a change in immigration status, while some of them had work permits or were married to American citizens. As noted by the NYT, who has reviewed the relevant documents and talked with lawyers, the new tactic opens up wide opportunities for deportations for ICE.
The publication notes that every year hundreds of thousands of immigrants violate the terms of stay in the country, including waiting for an extension of a green card, visa, or work permit. Before Donald Trump returned to the White House, they were not deported unless they had committed crimes, but with the arrival of the new administration, which intends to increase the number of immigration arrests to 2,000 per day, the situation has changed.
Tightening of policy
The country's policy towards migrants has become tougher. In the very first days of his second term, the US president issued decrees concerning not only border control, but also the revision of fundamental principles of immigration law, such as citizenship by birth and the right to asylum.
The Supreme Court subsequently recognized that the president cannot change the Constitution by decree and rewrite the right given by the 14th Amendment, only a new amendment can repeal it.
At the same time, the authorities have also introduced rules effectively prohibiting those who illegally cross the southern border from seeking asylum. However, the federal court found this ban unlawful, since American law allows applying for asylum outside the checkpoints.
However, the administration has secured the right to unilaterally revoke the temporary protected status of hundreds of thousands of migrants from Haiti and Syria. The Supreme Court sided with the White House, which allowed more than 350,000 people from these countries to be deported or denied the right to work.
This paved the way for the systematic curtailment of the asylum program by "workarounds." In addition, natives of Venezuela, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Cameroon and several other countries were hit by the cancellation of protection and work permits.
In addition, Trump imposed a state of emergency on the southern border and abolished the procedure under which migrants were released before immigration court hearings, and also demanded increased detentions in the country's largest cities, including New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. The head of state called the authorities' goal to carry out the largest operation in the history of the United States to deport illegal migrants.
The split of American society
At the end of June, the US Supreme Court simplified the deportation of holders of American green cards. Also, border service agents may refuse entry to the holder of this document. We are talking about people suspected of committing crimes. At the same time, border guards are not required to provide evidence of this, "there is only enough reason to believe."
At the end of May, mass protests broke out near the immigration center in Newark, New York, after migrants inside went on a hunger strike. Because of this, a curfew was imposed in the city. According to human rights activists, migrants complained of unbearable conditions of detention: prisoners reported that they were being subjected to inhuman treatment, they were denied medical care, and they were given expired food with worms.
Migration policy is one of the main factors currently splitting American society, as citizens have fundamentally different views on how to develop it further, Andrei Kortunov, scientific director of the Russian International Affairs Council, emphasized in an interview with Izvestia. According to him, on the one hand, there are people who advocate the mass deportation of illegal migrants or those whose exit documents have expired.
— They are willing to ignore all relevant factors: education, family status, or some other mitigating circumstances. On the other hand, there are people who believe that a massive amnesty is needed, which could extend to millions, maybe even tens of millions of people," the expert explained.
He added that, in the opinion of these people, migrants should be given access to social support programs, medical care, etc.
— It is very difficult to find any compromises. Trump is on the side of those who advocate limiting the migration flow. And so the previous year was the first in the very long history of the United States when the number of people who left the country exceeded the number of people who came to the country," the analyst said.
He noted that from the point of view of Trump and his supporters, this is a great achievement.
— And from the point of view of people who say that America has historically been made up of migrants, this is a departure from the principles, from the country's development strategy, which has been implemented for centuries. It is clear that these differences will persist and will continue to color the political struggle," predicted Kortunov.
The concept has changed
Republicans fear that the migration issue could spoil their election results. For example, about 2.5 million new residents have appeared in Texas since 2020, which is comparable to the population of New Mexico. In turn, this has changed the composition of the electorate, bringing uncertainty to this year's Senate election campaign, Axios notes.
Since 1994, Republicans have held control of Texas due to strong support in the suburbs and rural areas, as well as the party's recent successes in the fight for the Latino vote. Now the electoral boundaries have begun to blur, and new residents of the states do not share the conservative views of the old-timers.
The situation for Republicans is also aggravated by the decline in President Trump's ratings, as well as the growing disapproval of his activities among Latinos. According to a public opinion poll conducted by The Economist/YouGov, 34% approve of the president's activities in office, while Quinnipiac University cites data of 32%, while RealClearPolitics — 41.1%. A survey conducted by UnidosUS / BSP Research / Shaw & Co. showed that the level of disapproval of the president's actions rose to 67%.
The data provided by Quinnipiac represents the lowest figure for all two terms of Trump's cadence, noted political scientist and Americanist Malek Dudakov.
"First of all, the ratings are affected by the war in Iran and rising inflation. Two thirds of Americans consider the Iranian adventure to be a mistake. 44% are confident that the United States is losing, only 36% are more optimistic," the expert noted in his Telegram channel.
According to him, the majority of the population now fears that the war will drag on for a year. And you will have to endure high fuel prices for a long time.
"The lion's share states the deterioration of their financial condition, blames Trump for this and believes that the US president is doing anything but the problems of Americans. The White House's diplomatic efforts are being viewed very skeptically, while Trump is being asked to forget about foreign policy and return to the domestic American agenda," the expert explained.
He added that 48% support the Democratic Party in the upcoming congressional elections, 41% are ready to vote for Republicans. Dudakov is confident that "the war in Iran is systematically burning Trump's remaining political capital."
"The Democrats hope to gain a majority in the lower house with 225-230 seats. The maximum program for them is to seize control of the Senate. It will be difficult to achieve this. But given the drop in Trump's ratings, Republicans are having problems even in their traditional bastions," the analyst concluded.
As Axios notes, the changes in the electorate "could upend political mathematics in typically pro-republican Texas." The party has similar problems in Alaska, Iowa and Ohio.
The White House does not rule out a possible Republican defeat in the November 3 elections. In particular, the legal department holds closed half-hour briefings for party representatives in the administration to prepare for a potential Democratic victory in the midterm elections in November, The Washington Post (WP) reports, citing sources.
One of them, in a conversation with the publication, called it very likely that the Republicans would lose control of at least one house of Congress following the election. They will re-elect all 435 members of the House of Representatives for two years and 33 senators for six years. Republicans currently hold 219 of the 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 53 of the 100 in the Senate.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
