US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has implemented a policy of case review which demonstrates a stark contrast from the previous administration. According to the press release, the new process allows for “individuals who believe their case does not align with ICE’s enforcement, detention and removal priorities” to have that reviewed.
This review could extend to decisions by ICE officials to detain individuals, initiate removal proceedings, prosecute removal cases and other types of enforcement decisions. ICE is requesting that case review not be used until the local ICE field office has been contacted.
This process shows that ICE has returned to a policy of limited enforcement, as opposed to the previous enforcement policy which included virtually all individuals who could be put into removal proceedings. The new enforcement priorities focus much more directly on threats to national security, terrorism, and serious crimes.
Not only does the new case review process create a policy of reviewing enforcement decisions, it actually encourages people to request review directly through the ICE website. This kind of oversight would have been absolutely unthinkable several months ago. Immigration attorneys have reported favorable decisions on cases which had been denied review for years under these new policies.