The United States will launch an operation to send court documents to 78,000 migrants who were not processed for deportation after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border without authorization this year.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) project, also known as "Operation Horizon," is designed to place tens of thousands of migrants who have agreed to ad hoc processing around the southern border into deportation proceedings. The agency will send the migrants "notices to appear," as well as other documents.
In most cases, migrants who are released after crossing the southern border, instead of being quickly deported or detained, are given "notices to appear," which require them to see an immigration judge who can order their deportation if they fail to appear for court appointments.
However, beginning in March, U.S. border officials stopped issuing notices to appear to tens of thousands of migrants who were released, citing limited resources due to a surge in migration. Instead, migrants received “notices to report” or instructions to appear at an ICE office in their respective destination within 60 days for further processing.
The notices sent to thousands of migrants have raised concerns among immigrant advocates who believe that many of the legal packages may be sent to addresses where the recipients no longer live, potentially leading immigration judges to order deportation due to missed court appointments.
That's why Nayna Gupa, associate director of policy at the National Immigrant Justice Center, asked ICE to issue and publish guidance requiring its prosecutors to demonstrate that migrants received notices to appear before proceeding with their deportation.