Updated January 24, 2025 at 19:17 PM ET
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Trump administration memo has paved the way for immigration authorities to quickly remove migrants who were temporarily admitted to the country during the Biden administration.
More than 1 million migrants were allowed into the U.S. under two Biden-era programs, despite objections from critics who said those programs themselves were illegal.
It's part of a broad push by the Trump administration to deliver on the immigration crackdown he promised during the campaign, quickly sweeping aside the immigration policies of the previous administration.
Acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamin Huffman signed the memo that gives immigration authorities permission to begin removing migrants who were lawfully admitted to the country under two programs that depend on an authority known as humanitarian parole.
That includes migrants admitted through the CBP One app, which allowed migrants to schedule appointments at ports of entry to begin making their asylum claims. The Trump administration shut the app's scheduling function down on Monday, leaving migrants waiting at ports of entry in Mexico in despair.
The memo could also apply to migrants admitted to the U.S. through a program for people fleeing Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. That program was also terminated this week.
The two programs were part of what the Biden administration called "lawful pathways" that were intended to discourage migrants from crossing the southern U.S. border illegally to seek asylum. But immigration hardliners argued that the programs themselves were unlawful.
"Those mass parole programs dealt with illegal immigration by just legalizing it," said Mark Krikorian, the executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank in Washington that advocates for lower levels of immigration. "It was, in a sense, the Biden administration telling people who wanted to come here, don't break the law by crossing the border illegally. We'll break it for you by letting you in illegally."
It was no surprise that the Trump administration moved quickly to shut these programs down. But it was not immediately clear what would happen to the more than 1.4 million people who had already been admitted to the U.S. under the two programs.
Now the DHS memo clears the way for the Trump administration to begin arresting and deporting them, but the details of how that could work in practice are complex.
The memo, which was first reported by The New York Times, says ICE agents should review each case individually and determine what enforcement is necessary.
Now immigrant advocates fear that people who fled from dangerous places may be forced to go back -- and that the process could move swiftly.
"For this administration, cruelty and chaos are the point," said Kate Jastram, director of policy and advocacy at the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies.
The memo directs authorities to consider what's known as expedited removal for migrants who have been present in the U.S. for up to two years.
Expedited removal was originally only applied to migrants who had recently crossed the border. But this week, the Trump administration moved to expand it dramatically, allowing immigration authorities to bypass parts of regular immigration law and speed up deportations.
For migrants who do not qualify for expedited removal, the memo instructs authorities to consider placing them in regular deportation proceedings.
"Take all steps necessary to review the alien's case and consider, in exercising your enforcement discretion, whether any such alien should be placed in removal proceedings," the memo says. "Review the alien's parole status to determine, in exercising your enforcement discretion, whether parole remains appropriate in light of any changed legal or factual circumstances."
The memo says authorities may wish to prioritize migrants who've been in the U.S. for a year but failed to apply for asylum.
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