US Court Partly Upholds Fast-Track Expulsion of Migrants

A federal court ruled Friday that the U.S. can continue to expel certain migrants who cross the U.S.-Mexico border unless they would be returned to a country where they might face persecution or torture.

The ruling by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit allows a rule, known as Title 42, implemented during the Trump administration at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, to largely stay in effect.

The case was brought by a group of migrants who were represented by the American Civil Liberties Union.

The court ruled the migrants, who entered the United States without authorization, “have no right to be in the United States” and that the government “can immediately expel them.”

However, they cannot be expelled to a country where their “life or freedom would be threatened” – or because of “race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion” – or to a country where they will likely be tortured.

Kept as health measure

Amid continuing chaos along the U.S.-Mexico border, the Biden administration has opted to retain the policy, which was originally put forth as a public health measure.

Migrants are fast-tracked for removal if U.S. immigration officers conclude they do not have a valid asylum claim, a determination made without migrants appearing before an immigration judge. Unaccompanied children who cross the border into the United States are exempted from the policy.

The U.S Department of Justice has not commented on the ruling.

Enforcement of Title 42 appears to be uneven in some cases.

According to Reuters, many crossing the border on foot are expelled or quickly turned back, but those in vehicles are more often able to make their claim of asylum.

A U.S. Border Patrol officer told Reuters that some migrants buy cheap cars in Mexico to boost their odds of making it across.

“It’s a way to jump the line,” said U.S. Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported 153,941 migrant encounters on the U.S. southern border in January, which was almost double the number reported in January 2021 and four times the total in January of 2020.

Some information in this report came from Reuters.

Florida Man Charged With Smuggling Migrants Into US to be Conditionally Released

A Florida man accused of smuggling Indian migrants who crossed through a freezing snowstorm into the United States from Canada last week was granted conditional release in a hearing on Monday.

Steve Shand, who appeared via video feed from a Minneapolis jail, was arrested by U.S. border patrol the same day Royal Canadian Mounted Police found the bodies of four people, including a baby, frozen to death in the Manitoba snow meters from the U.S. border of Minnesota.

Shand, who waived his right to a probable cause hearing, will remain in custody until plans are made for his return home to Deltona, Florida. The U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota said conditions of Shand’s release include restrictions on travel and the surrender of any travel documents, as well as his promise to appear in court as required. The court did not specify when he would be released.

U.S. authorities charged Shand with smuggling two people — Gujarati-speaking Indian nationals that U.S. border patrol agents found with him in a 15-person white rental van driving through blowing snow Wednesday morning. Authorities suspect he is involved in a larger smuggling operation, the charge documents say.

Authorities believe the four deceased people were separated from another group of five Indians who were traveling on foot in the snow as they tried to cross the border. That group of five also was apprehended Wednesday.

The group of five had new-looking winter gear that matched Shand’s, the documents say, and their boots matched boot-prints from people who walked across the border last month, according to U.S. Department of Homeland Security special agent John Stanley.

One woman walking had to be hospitalized for frostbite and may have part of her hand amputated, authorities said.

“The investigation into the death of the four individuals in Canada is ongoing along with an investigation into a larger human smuggling operation of which Shand is suspected of being a part,” the charge document reads.

One of the men picked up by border patrol reportedly said he had obtained a fraudulent Canadian student visa and intended to meet his uncle in Chicago.

Shauna Labman, a human rights professor who studies migration at the University of Winnipeg, said going south from Canada into the U.S. is less common than the opposite direction.

The U.S. is usually easier to get to, by land or air, and Canada is generally seen as having fairer refugee policies, she said.

“The news is upsetting but it’s also not surprising: It is a risk that we know occurs. … Our border policies force people into dangerous crossings.”