New Study Finds Immigration Officers Ordering Unlawful Deportations

Melissa del Bosque interviews Sarah Mehta:

"More than two million people have been deported since President Obama took office in 2008.  Among this massive number of deportations, an increasing number of people with valid legal claims to remain in the U.S. — even U.S. citizens — are mistakenly deported, according to a report released by the ACLU today.  Once returned to their “home” countries, many have suffered catastrophic consequences, including kidnapping and murder.  Produced by Sarah Mehta, an ACLU attorney,“American Exile: Rapid Deportations That Bypass the Courtroom” is the first comprehensive study of deportations ordered by immigration agents instead of immigration judges.

Mehta, who was raised in Arlington, Texas, and now lives in New York, spent a year studying deportation cases and found that an astounding 83 percent of people deported in 2013 were removed without a hearing or a chance to see an immigration judge.

Many of the people Mehta interviewed were deported through a process called expedited removal, whereby an immigration enforcement officer can determine someone’s fate in a matter of minutes.  In many cases, the officer’s decision can literally mean life or death for the immigrant.  For example, Mehta interviewed a transgender woman from Mexico named Nydia R. who was deported under expedited removal despite having obtained political asylum in the United States.  Back in Mexico, Nydia R. was raped and tortured by members of Los Zetas and barely escaped with her life.  Mehta also documented other cases of people wrongfully deported who were kidnapped, tortured or even killed after being returned to their home countries.  The Observer spoke with Mehta about the ACLU’s new report and how our immigration system, which Mehta calls “deeply corrupted,” has largely become a vehicle for mass deportations without legal due process." - Texas Observer, Dec. 4, 2014.