Thread by @DavidLeopold

This #thread is a bit wonky, so bear with me. It's important for people to understand that Trump's ugly vision of deportation without a judge or due process is not just another unhinged tweet. It’s part of the Trump plan & it could become reality tomorrow. Here’s why..

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2/The #immigration law is already very harsh and provides for "expedited removal" through a unilateral decision made by a low level immigration officer without opportunity for the individual ordered deported to make his or her case before an immigration judge;

3/Specifically, the immigration law already gives a low level @CBP or @ICEgov bureaucrat unfettered power to order someone removed fr the US "without further hearing or review" unless the person indicates an intention to apply for asylum or a fear of persecution. INA 235(b)(1);

@CBP @ICEgov 4/This is not only the case at the border, but can apply throughout the US;

@CBP @ICEgov 5/INA 235(b)(1)(A)(iii)(I) and (II) give the govt the authority to apply expedited removal to any non-citizen who has not been admitted or paroled into the US and cannot show that s/he has been physically present in the United States continuously for 2 yrs;

@CBP @ICEgov 6/Under previous administrations @DHSgov only applied expedited removal to people encountered within the US within 100 air miles of the border & within 14 days of their entry into the US.

@CBP @ICEgov @DHSgov 7/But, in a 02/20/17 Border Memo then DHS Sec John Kelly (now Trump Chief of Staff) indicated an intent to begin applying expedited removal to non=citizens encountered throughout the US who could not prove they were lawfully admitted and had been continuously present for 2 years

@CBP @ICEgov @DHSgov 8/The practical effect of such a change would be to subject many people inside the US to expedited removal without ever seeing an immigration judge, without any due process, without ever being able to make their case. Who among us can show continuous physical presence?;

@CBP @ICEgov @DHSgov 9/So Trump’s tweet, as unhinged as it may seem, could quickly become a reality; the deportation of parents, grandparents, Dreamers and others without so much as a chance to have their day in court.

As Masha Gessen said, "Believe the autocrat, he means what he says"

@CBP @ICEgov @DHSgov 10/Since asylum is the exception to "expedited removal" what Trump is saying is that we should take a sledge hammer to the Statue of Liberty and turn our backs on cherished American values.