Trump officials considering using court-ordered removals to deport migrant families: report

The Trump administration is reportedly considering a plan to focus deportation orders on families of undocumented migrants, a shift away from officials’ push to prioritize targeting dangerous criminals.

CNN reported Friday that a senior administration official said the idea was “under serious consideration.” The move to refocus on migrants with families would reportedly be aimed at deterring human smugglers.

{mosads}Another source told the outlet that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials were discussing the proposed plans, while a third source told CNN that no immediate action is being taken.

A DHS spokesman did not immediately return a request for comment from The Hill on Friday.

DHS does not currently have the resources to deport everyone with deportation orders, and under the Obama administration it focused on deporting people with criminal backgrounds.

That policy was extended when President Trump took office in 2017, following the president’s pledge a year earlier to focus his deportation efforts on “bad hombres,” his way of referring to migrants with criminal histories.

Three U.S. officials told CNN, however, that White House adviser Stephen Miller is behind the most recent push to refocus DHS’s deportation efforts, following the resignation of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and amid record-high levels of migrants being apprehended for illegally crossing the border.

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan, previously head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), has reportedly resisted the push, fearing that it could hurt the agency’s negotiation with House Democrats for funding.

Nearly 100,000 migrants were apprehended along the border in April for illegal border crossings, according to agency statistics.