DHS said that the agency “conducted a thorough review of [the Trump administration’s] July 2019 expedited removal designation,” and that recession “was consistent with the Department’s need to prioritize its limited enforcement resources . . . by utilizing expedited removal as a border enforcement tool for certain recent entrants.”

The Biden administration’s roll back of the expedited removal expansion will be published Monday in the Federal Register. 

Newsweek explained the history of the proposed expansion of expedited removal and why it was discarded by the Biden administration:

“In 2017, Trump issued an executive order for the DHS to expand their use of `expedited removal.’ In July of 2019, the department expanded the policy in which the expedited removal could be applied to those who are undocumented, committed fraud or misrepresentation, and who had not been present physically in the country for two years prior to apprehension.

DHS said it believes that the expedited removal is best focused as a `border enforcement tool.’ Keeping expedited removal would require more time and intensive training for all current officers and agents that would take away from new initiatives being introduced which would better serve the areas.

Additionally, if the policy was kept in place, it would bring new challenges for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) workforce. It would also come with an `increased risk of otherwise avoidable legal challenges to the agency’s enforcement actions . . . .'”

KJ