Who will be targeted in the ICE roundups expected of immigrant families?

In the context of a crackdown pushed by President Trump, immigration authorities are expected to hold a series of raids targeting Sunday undocumented families, according to two senior administration officials.

Raids – The President telegraphed for the first time last month postpone – left undocumented tipped, fearing that they would be deported and separated from their families. While the biggest Democrats urge Trump to abandon the operation, immigrant advocacy groups are preparing immigrants likely to be targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Who will be targeted and why?

Although the president and other officials claimed that "millions" would be deported, such an operation would be logistically impossible and politically untenable. About 10.5 million undocumented immigrants currently live in the United States and, according to government officials, about 1 million have obtained a final removal order.

But the sweeping wave that should begin Sunday should be limited in scope and target around 2,000 people.

This operation should target undocumented families in an expedited file of the judicial system of immigration. According to ICE, a judge who ordered that these immigrants do not appear before the court ordered their expulsion, was also informed by the agency.

ICE says that very few of these people responded to the agency's request to organize their deportation earlier this year. The group in this "Rocket" folder would have about 2,100 people.

But it is highly unlikely that ICE will find all the migrants at the addresses they have on file, especially since the operation has been made so publicized. Lawyers fear that the agency is turning to "collateral arrests", which occur frequently during "targeted" operations. These are apprehensions of people who are undocumented but who are not directly targeted by an ICE operation. They had just been in the place where the operation takes place.

Did these people receive a "due process"?

The administration has repeatedly reiterated that the migrants who would be targeted by the operation already benefited from due process before the immigration courts. The authorities also accused them of ignoring US laws a second time by not appearing in court.

But lawyers and immigration lawyers dispute this. They said that migrants may not have known about their date of hearing.

"It is quite possible that some of the families who were expelled benefited from due process, a hearing and hearings, and then failed to be dismissed for this measure." said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy analyst at the US Immigration Agency. Council, told CBS News. "But the vast majority of people have been deported for failing in court, and it is highly likely that many of these people missed the court without fail on their part."

"By definition, a person can not have his day in court if she has never known that she had a day in court," he said.

Reichlin-Melnick said that many people had not received a notice of court appearance because they were often sent to the wrong address, with wrong dates or different places, as well as others. bureaucratic errors.

Lawyers and lawyers also noted that some immigrants do not appear in court because of the lack of legal representation. Immigrants and migrants from the US judicial system of immigration – which is a branch of the Department of Justice – are not entitled to a lawyer appointed by the government, unlike the independent judiciary. It is up to the lobbies to fill this void.

"There is no right to a lawyer, and study after study, it has been shown that the rate of appearance of people who have a lawyer is significantly higher than that of those who do not have a lawyer. "said Reichlin-Melnick. "Unfortunately, the immigration court is a very complex system – much more complicated than many other courts – and without a lawyer to navigate the system, people who intend to follow the rules simply can not not do it. "

Will families be separated because of this operation?

Deportations can lead to family separations, as in the past. The raids would affect not only undocumented immigrants with pending removal orders, but also so-called "mixed-status" families whose members hold a green card and US citizens – mostly children born in the United States. United.

Will everyone apprehended be expelled?

The referrals of many people will probably be delayed or even stopped, as lawyers prepare to file court motions to reopen the case of migrants apprehended by ICE.

However, immigration lawyers have noted that immigrants and migrants who are not able to find a lawyer will likely face insurmountable difficulties against a government that is determined to expel them.

"Most of the time, they are subject to the whims of this very dysfunctional immigration court system," said Sarah Pierce, Policy Analyst for the Migration Policy Institute, CBS News.

"When you go to an immigration court, you find yourself in a very intimidating environment and subject to very complicated procedures, legal standards and terminology," added Pierce. "You also face a very well trained lawyer who represents the government and tries to deport you."

How are lawyers preparing?

From New York to Baltimore, via Houston and Los Angeles, immigrant groups and legal aid organizations are mobilizing to educate their communities of local immigrants. They are also trying to calm the fear that already prevailed in many households.

Luba Cortés, an immigrant defense coordinator, said volunteer lawyers and advocacy organizations such as Make the Road needed a "balance": inform without creating massive panic.

"We do not want to create fear or chaos as they target these immigrant families," Cortes told CBS News.

In addition to providing free or low-cost legal advice, some organizations have also established hotlines so that people can report ICE activities in their neighborhoods.

Why does the government want to do that?

In June, former interim director of ICE, Mark Morgan, who now heads the Customs and Border Protection (CBP), told reporters that the operation was designed to send a "powerful message" of deterrence to the people of Central America. Mr Morgan said his former agency wanted to uphold the values ​​of "humanity, compassion and dignity", but that it was also essential to prevent what he described as erosion. of the rule of law.

"I do not want to send ICE agents to their workplaces, I do not want to send ICE agents to them. I do not want to send ICE agents to try and locate them." to apprehend them in their communities, their cities, "he added. "This is not what I prefer to do, but we have applied due process, and we have tried to work with them." We tried and tried to say, "Hey, come and go." But they refused to do so, so we have no choice but to fulfill our statutory mandate. "

Can he be stopped?

This is not clear. The president has postponed the raids last month and could do it again, especially since he is facing a huge public outcry and opposition to Congress. It is also possible that a dispute will block sweeps after their start.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has already filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of New York, claiming that many of the people who might be targeted have not received due process. Like many lawyers, the ACLU pointed to the bureaucratic mistakes that often lead migrants to not appear in court.

"Even when the government sent notices to the right address for a real hearing, it often sent them too late, for places unreasonably far from the immigrants' homes," said the ACLU. "The notices arrived either after the date set for the hearing, or a few days in advance, forcing the destitute families to immediately go across the country to go to hearings in distant states. . "