New U.S. plan to detain migrants

An internal memo from U.S. Immigration authorities, parts of which were obtained by Reuters, reveals that the Trump administration has launched a new effort to hold migrants who have entered the U.S. illegally.

Under the new guidelines issued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the government will bar these migrants from bond hearings. This measure could apply to millions of people who have crossed the U.S. border illegally and are contesting their deportation. The policy change is expected to increase the number of people held in detention.

Another section of the memo states that immigration authorities have been instructed to interpret several parts of immigration law as a "prohibition on release after detention." This policy shift is also expected to face legal challenges.

The directive encourages immigration prosecutors to offer alternative arguments in court to justify the continued detention of undocumented migrants during immigration hearings.

Tom Jawetz, a former senior official at the Department of Homeland Security under the Biden administration, said this new policy appears to reverse legal standards on detention that have been in place for decades. He described this move as a "fundamental change" that could lead to a significant increase in the number of detained migrants.