Donald Trump Repeals Mayorkas Memos: ‘All Illegal Entry Will Immediately Cease’

5 Min Read
Source: U.S. Customs and Border Protection

President Donald Trump repealed key memos imposed by the former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Monday as he stated “all illegal entry will immediately cease…we will begin the process of returning millions of criminal aliens to their countries of origin.”

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Mayorkas’ memos had significantly limited Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in protecting the United States borders. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Monday that it has issued new memos to repeal restrictions placed on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents by former DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Additionally, the memos call for a review of the use of humanitarian parole to admit migrants into the United States.

The first memo overturns a policy established in 2021 under Mayorkas, which expanded the list of “protected areas” where ICE was prohibited from carrying out immigration enforcement activities. The original policy aimed to ensure enforcement actions did not interfere with individuals’ access to essential services or participation in critical activities. These designated areas included schools, universities, healthcare facilities, places of worship, sites where children gather, social service providers, food banks, religious or civil ceremonies, and locations involved in disaster relief efforts.

At the time, Mayorkas said of the memo that actions on people and society as a whole must be considered. “In our pursuit of justice, including the execution of enforcement responsibilities, we influence people’s lives and the nation’s well-being in fundamental ways,” he stated.

The updated memo, obtained by Fox News, eliminates these specific restrictions, urging officers to rely on discretion and common sense when deciding where to enforce immigration laws. “It is unnecessary for the agency’s leadership to impose rigid rules about where immigration laws can be enforced,” the new guidance stated.

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ICE agents speaking to Fox News indicated that lifting these restrictions may enable them to target more individuals who are in the country illegally, as such individuals previously avoided arrest by staying near schools and churches.

A second memo issued the same day addresses the use of humanitarian parole, a tool the Biden administration has utilized to admit hundreds of thousands of migrants, including approximately 1.5 million individuals through the CBP One app and parole pathways for nationals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. Additional parole programs were also introduced for Ukrainians and Afghans.

The memo highlights the statutory requirement that parole authority be applied on a “case-by-case basis,” a standard that critics argue the administration has exceeded. It underscores that parole should be used in limited and narrowly defined circumstances. The memo states that past administrations have misused the authority in ways that violate statutory guidelines, emphasizing that “categorical parole programs,” which make broad groups of migrants presumptively eligible, are not authorized by law.

The memo instructs the leadership of ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to compile a list of current policies, procedures, and instructions related to parole. These will be reviewed to ensure compliance with the statute, and any programs deemed inconsistent with the law will be phased out. A report summarizing these actions will then be presented to the DHS secretary. Programs found to be improperly implemented will be paused, modified, or terminated in alignment with relevant statutes, regulations, and court rulings.

The release of these memos coincided with a series of executive orders signed by former President Donald Trump, addressing border security. These orders included deploying military forces to the southern border, ending parole programs established under the Biden administration, and halting birthright citizenship for children born to individuals in the country illegally. Trump also declared a national emergency and ordered the resumption of border wall construction.

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