Not content with the current scale of harassment being unleashed on immigrants in the United States, President Donald Trump has ordered the Department of Homeland Security to increase the number of officers focused on deportation by a whopping 20,000.
The order was included in a presidential proclamation aimed at pushing undocumented immigrants to leave the country voluntarily, with Trump taking the opportunity to call on DHS to begin “deputizing and contracting with state and local law enforcement officers, former federal officers, officers and personnel within other federal agencies, and other individuals.”
As The New York Times reports, it is not currently clear how the move, which would dramatically increase ICE’s numbers from their current 6,000, would be funded.
Trump has previously encouraged the deputization of state and local law enforcement officers working on deportations, and the DHS has signed several agreements with local law enforcement in the months since Trump’s inauguration. The New York Times cites one instance last month where local law enforcement officials in Florida assisted ICE in an operation that led to more than 1,100 immigrants across the state being arrested.
Cracking down on immigration was one of Trump’s core campaign promises, and since taking office he has deployed several tactics in an effort to follow through, including imploring migrants to self-deport by offering them $1,000 and a free flight to wherever they want to go, a program he has dubbed “Project Homecoming.”
In the proclamation released on Friday, Trump said, “This proclamation establishes Project Homecoming, which will present illegal aliens with a choice: either leave the United States voluntarily, with the support and financial assistance of the federal government, or remain and face the consequences.”
Trump went on to instruct the DHS to initiate a “nationwide communications campaign” to inform migrants of the offer and warn them that not doing so would result in severe consequences.
In addition to being arrested and deported, potential consequences for noncompliance include “fines as consistent with applicable law for immigration-related crimes; the garnishment of wages; and the confiscation of savings and personal property, including homes and vehicles.”
Trump’s most recent immigration crackdown has been met with much resistance, and more than a few missteps, including the wrongful deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the deportation of two children who were U.S. citizens, the detention of lawful residents, and accidental raids of citizens’ homes.
The proposed expansion of ICE’s numbers comes as Trump is slashing federal government jobs in an attempt to downsize several government agencies and “eliminate waste.” On Friday, a federal judge issued an emergency order blocking further layoffs for at least two weeks, but at least 75,000 federal employees have already taken deferred resignation, and thousands more probationary workers have been let go.
While the DHS has largely avoided mass layoffs, staffers were offered buyouts and early retirement options last month, with Secretary Kristi Noem offering some staffers as much as $25,000 as a “voluntary separation payment.”
At the time, department spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin issued a statement claiming, “Every dollar spent and position filled at DHS should be focused on our core mission of securing our homeland and keeping the American people safe.”
