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A new immigration plan from the Donald Trump administration threatens to leave hundreds of thousands of migrants unprotected, including Cubans, who entered the United States illegally and sought asylum after crossing the border.
The measure, revealed in an exclusive report by CNN, aims to dismiss asylum requests from those who are in U.S. territory without legal documentation, making them immediately deportable.
This strategy would transform the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) into an operational extension of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to allegations by civil rights organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
“The government is turning the agency that grants immigration benefits into an enforcement arm of ICE,” warned a lawyer from the organization.
Although Trump promised during his presidential campaign that he would prioritize the deportation of individuals with criminal records, the operational reality is different. The goal set by the White House is 3,000 arrests per day, a figure that is unattainable if limited to those with a criminal history, asserts Priscilla Álvarez, immigration correspondent for CNN, in conversation with the network's own journalist Zachary B. Wolf.
Now, the target is everyone who is in the country illegally. The expansion of arrests has caused concern even among the president's Republican allies, who have demanded details about who is actually being detained.
Cubans, Venezuelans, and other nationalities lose protections
The plan included the dismantling of humanitarian protections such as Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and parole, which directly impacts migrant communities such as Cubans, Venezuelans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans.
Many of those who arrived legally with temporary documents have become undocumented overnight, with no option to renew their work or residency permits.
“The number of undocumented people is growing because protections are being systematically removed,” Álvarez warned.
Additionally, a recent ruling by the Supreme Court allows the Trump administration to deport migrants to third countries, such as South Sudan, without clear guarantees of due process. This paves the way for sending Cubans or Venezuelans to nations with which the U.S. does not have direct repatriation agreements.
The question of how much notice these individuals receive and whether they can challenge their deportation remains unanswered, as an infrastructure to detain and expel more migrants is being established.
"Alligator Alcatraz": the new symbol of mass detention
One of the most alarming projects is the provisional detention center known as "Alligator Alcatraz", located in the Everglades of Florida. With a capacity for 5,000 people, the site is planned to be surrounded by alligators and snakes in a swamp, which minimizes the need for physical security.
“ICE only has a limited number of detention beds. It only has funding for an average of 41,500 beds, but collaborates with local jails. It has community partners for detention. Currently, there are over 58,000 people in ICE custody. They have completely exceeded their capacity,” argued Álvarez.
The complex in Florida, which is intended to be built with emergency funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), is just one piece of the puzzle. The administration is also negotiating with states and private companies to establish new immigration detention facilities in light of the collapse of the existing ones, the correspondent notes.
With more than 58,000 people currently detained and a collapsed immigration system, Trump and his team, led by the architect of immigration policies, Stephen Miller, have been quietly crafting this new legal and operational framework for months.
The big question is whether they will achieve the multibillion-dollar budget package being debated in Congress. Should they succeed, experts warn, they could fully implement this machinery that threatens to blur the line between humanitarian protection and immigration punishment.
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