(CNN) The Biden administration is rolling out a new program for families of released immigrants in the United States to track them while they undergo an accelerated deportation process, including a stay-at-home measure, according to multiple sources familiar with the plans.
ICE confirmed in a statement that the so-called Family Expedited Removal Administration (FERM) will place some heads of household of families on an alternative to detention, such as a GPS ankle monitor, and subject them to a four-city curfew.
Los Angeles Times first reported in the program.
Families still have the opportunity to claim asylum under the program and, if they qualify, go through the asylum procedure. Families with no genuine fear are subject to removal under the accelerated removal process, known as “expedited removal,” which would prevent them from entering the United States for five years.
The program is one of many initiatives the Biden administration is rolling out to try to manage the flow of immigrants at the US-Mexico border — in this case, families — after the expiration of the Covid-era border restriction, known as Address 42.
“[Enforcement and Removal Operations] committed to enforcing the consequences of immigration in a safe and humane manner for those who enter the United States illegally,” Corey Price, associate executive director of ICE ERO said in a statement.
“Families should not listen to smugglers’ lies,” the statement said. “Like non-citizen adults traveling with children who have no legal basis to remain in the United States, they will be swiftly removed and barred from returning for at least five years.” I continued.
Last year, ICE piloted a similar program with immigrants who resided in Baltimore and Houston and imposed dusk-to-dawn curfews.
management officials They raced to deal with a surge in immigrants trying to cross into the United States as Title 42 is set to expire — a pandemic-era rule that has allowed authorities to quickly expel migrants encountered at the border.
The Biden administration came under fire earlier this year amid reports that officials were considering resuming family detention, a practice that ended with President Joe Biden. Officials have since confirmed that there are no plans to reinstate the practice.
But the large number of border arrests in recent days has highlighted the challenge facing the administration.
US border authorities encountered more than 10,000 immigrants along the US southern border on Tuesday, according to a Homeland Security official, already exceeding the government’s estimate for Address 42 after the incident.
Among the new policy measures the administration is putting into place is a new asylum rule that will largely prevent immigrants who have transited through another country from seeking asylum in the United States. The rule, which was proposed earlier this year, would assume that migrants do not qualify for asylum in the United States if they do not first seek asylum in a country they crossed through, such as Mexico, on their way to the border. According to officials, immigrants who secure an appointment through the CBP One app will be exempted.
This story has been updated with additional details.
Correction: The title and story have been updated to reflect the Los Angeles Times was first to report the program’s launch.
CNN’s Jack Forrest contributed to this report.
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