The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is applying new rules that allow its agents to fast-track immigrants' deportation process created by a 1996 law.

The said law prohibits certain immigrants from seeking relief before an immigration judge.

Before implementing the new policy, immigration authorities were only allowed to expedite an immigrant's deportation if the immigrant failed to show that they legally entered the country.

The immigrant should also be in the U.S. for at least two weeks. The new policy had been held up in federal court until last month.

The ruling will apply the expedited removal of undocumented immigrants caught anywhere in the U.S. That is under the condition of deportation agents determine that they have lived in the country for less than two years and were lawfully paroled and admitted.

An immigrant will have to show the immigration officer that they are not eligible to be deported right away.

The Trump administration said the new expedited removal rules would allow ICE to save funds and resources. These funds and resources were usually used for long-term detention and helped the immigration court system reduce its case backlog.

"Our ability to implement this important statutory tool will further enable us to protect our communities and preserve the integrity of our nation's congressionally mandated immigration laws," Tony Pham, the senior official performing the duties of the ICE director, said in a CBS News report.

Opposition

The new ruling has received a backlash from the opposing side.

Advocates for immigrants and lawyers said the policy would impede the due process rights of immigrants by denying them a day in court and the opportunity to seek legal counsel.

They added that immigrants might find it difficult to show documents to prove they have been living in the U.S. for at least two years.

Donald Kerwin, the executive director of the Center for Migration Studies, a New York-based think tank, said ICE deportation officers are not neutral arbiters, unlike immigration judges.

Meanwhile, immigrants in expedited removal may have a chance to be placed in deportation court proceedings.

This is possible if an asylum officer finds they have a credible fear of being persecuted in their native countries. Also, if they successfully prove that they hold a lawful permanent residency or another legal status.

According to Pham, their agents were receiving "pragmatic and robust training" to implement the new policy.

ICE Training

BuzzFeed News reported that agents and officers need to finish the policy's training course by Oct. 16. Also, ICE attorneys will start reviewing all cases in which deportation officers aim to use the new policy before immigrants are quickly removed from the country.

The ICE guidance on the new policy allows for some areas of discretion for officers. These discretions include ICE officers being told that they should not revisit cases of immigrants who are already in deportation proceedings.

Officers must also not implement quick deportations to people who can prove that they have been in the U.S. before the policy was first released in July.

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