Somalia’s Ambassador to the U.S. confirms the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency has a list of about 4,000 Somalis they are looking to deport back to East Africa.
“The total number of the Somalis that are in the books … to be removed are close to 4,000,” Ambassador Ahmed Isse Awad told Voice of America.
By comparison, Awad said, only 170 Somalis were deported by the Obama administration in the last 2 years for criminal offenses or because their asylum requests were rejected.
The deportations news comes amid reports that the Trump administration is moving quickly to build up a nationwide deportation force.
The agency is considering speeding up the hiring of hundreds of new ICE agents by ending polygraph exams and physical fitness requirements that are standard in the hiring process.
But Trump’s plans may be hindered if lawmakers in Congress are hesitant to approve billions of dollars to build the wall and hire additional security at the southern border.
During his campaign, President Donald Trump promised to overturn former President Obama’s “catch and release” border policy, which allowed millions of illegal undocumented immigrants to migrate into the United States.
According to the Washington Post, the ICE agency has already found 33,000 more detention beds to house undocumented immigrants caught at the border.
It should be noted that border crossings has dropped significantly since Trump took office.
