ASMA KHALID, HOST:
President Trump has made deportation a top priority of his administration, delivering on a promise he made on the campaign trail.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: On Day 1, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history.
KHALID: During this campaign speech, Trump railed against immigrants who come to the United States illegally, whom he described as criminals and gang members.
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TRUMP: We will not be occupied. We will not be overrun. We will not be conquered.
KHALID: In March, the administration went further and invoked the Alien Enemies Act for the first time since World War II - this time, to target alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Why are we under arrest?
UNIDENTIFIED OFFICER #1: So turn around.
UNIDENTIFIED OFFICER #2: Keep your hands so I can see them.
UNIDENTIFIED OFFICER #1: Turn around. Turn around. Turn around.
KHALID: The same month, federal immigration agents also began arresting people involved with pro-Palestinian activism on college campuses. One of them was Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student and green card holder. His wife, Noor Abdalla, filmed his arrest as agents who refused to give their names handcuffed him and put him in an unmarked car.
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NOOR ABDALLA: Yeah, they just, like, handcuffed him and took him. I don't know what to do (crying).
KHALID: Abdalla told NPR it took 38 hours for her to find out where her husband had been sent.
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ABDALLA: I think that's probably the most terrifying thing that has ever happened to me.
KHALID: Deportation in the United States usually involves a long, complicated process. But as the Trump administration expands the number and scope of deportations, immigrant rights advocates are raising worries about due process and First Amendment rights. We're going to unpack the process of deportation now to understand it a bit better and discuss what it looks like in practice, with NPR's Ximena Bustillo. She covers immigration policy for the network. Hey there.
XIMENA BUSTILLO, BYLINE: Hi, Asma.
KHALID: So you have been reporting on immigration for the last several months, and you've boiled down this deportation process into a number of different steps to help us understand how - I would say - a somewhat wonky process works. So what did you find?
BUSTILLO: I've identified this process down to five steps...
KHALID: OK.
BUSTILLO: ...Being identified as deportable, being arrested, going through immigration court, receiving a final order of removal and ultimate removal. Keep in mind that process is individualized to each case and who, what, when, where, how?
KHALID: OK.
BUSTILLO: So when it's identified (ph), it can drag on for years or be very quick.
KHALID: Got it. So let's start with the first step you just mentioned. What does it mean to be identified as deportable?
BUSTILLO: Those at risk for arrest primarily include people without legal status because they may have entered the country illegally, overstayed a work or student visa or violated the terms of their green card, including by committing a crime. But the government doesn't have to prove that you committed a crime to see you as removable. A good example of this could be those without work authorization. There's about 8 million in this country.
KHALID: So Ximena, once someone is identified, then how does the government find them?
BUSTILLO: Homeland Security investigations are expensive and time-consuming. So they often rely on local law enforcement to report that they have arrested or identified someone without legal status. Then there's also what are called, quote, "at large" arrests. These are arrests conducted by ICE out in the field.
KHALID: OK, so Ximena, from there, you enter into a court system. And I want you to help us understand how immigration courts differ than other courts in our American legal system.
BUSTILLO: So to start, they're not in the judicial branch, like all other courts in our legal system. They're housed within the executive under the Department of Justice. And those arrested do not get the right to a lawyer, but they can ask to find one. And they do get the chance to make their defense. During this setting, there's also an attorney on behalf of ICE who argues in favor of removal. And then, this is where things get more complicated. Immigration courts are currently backlogged about 4 million cases...
KHALID: Oh, wow.
BUSTILLO: ...And people are being arrested faster than the courts can process their cases.
KHALID: I have a question here, though, Ximena. I mean, it seems like this court process you are describing is not actually what we have seen unfold with some of the high-profile cases that we've been hearing about since President Trump took office.
BUSTILLO: Right. So that's what a lot of immigration advocates are filing lawsuits over. They say that this court process had been completely sidestepped, as people were put on planes and taken to other countries.
KHALID: So how do they do that, though? How can you actually just sidestep the process?
BUSTILLO: The Trump administration is trying to use very specific authorities that they get access to to expedite these removals. Some has been the use of the Alien Enemies Act, which specifically allows the administration to bypass the court process, as well as something called expedited removal, which, again, allows you to expedite the removal, skipping the court process.
KHALID: I see. OK, so let's get back to the process that you were describing, and I want to ask you about the final two steps. Say you potentially get a final removal order, and then you are removed. How does that actually happen? How does that work?
BUSTILLO: So there are roughly three main ways that people are removed, either expedited removal, which I just explained. That also primarily happens at the border, where people are basically taken back across. Then there's voluntary return, which is when someone makes their own travel arrangements. And then there's nonvoluntary, which is when ICE arranges to fly you back. But there are challenges to sending many people back to their home countries. One reason is that their home countries have not agreed to accept them back.
One thing I do not specifically list is the step of detention. Some people might be detained from the point that they're arrested all the way until a court decision is made, or they're put on a removal flight. There's also alternatives to detention, such as wearing an ankle monitor or having regular check-ins with the government.
KHALID: OK. So, Ximena, what you have described seems like an incredibly lengthy process, perhaps a rather costly process, as well. And yet, it is something that President Trump campaigned on. He promised to bring about the largest deportation in American history. So how is what he promised during the campaign actually unfolding in these first few months?
BUSTILLO: There continues to be a big focus on deportations and arrests. But there's still a resource issue. Border czar Tom Homan has been critical of Congress' slower pace in providing DHS with more money or codifying any of Trump's executive orders, especially as immigration policy does come more out of the White House instead of Congress, which is the body that makes laws and provides the funding.
KHALID: All right. Well, thank you very much for your reporting.
BUSTILLO: Thank you.
KHALID: That's NPR's Ximena Bustillo. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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