Donald Trump and his administration issued memoranda relating to the administration’s deportation/removal priorities. These memos do not change the definition of deportable, that is, reasons why someone could be deported from the US. However, the memos signal a drastic change from President Obama’s humane focus on immigrants with certain criminal backgrounds, to anyone who has ever made any criminal mistake (whether charged and whether convicted) and who has ever made any misrepresentation to a government agent. The memos leave no room for a compassion and reasonable immigration officer to determine that an individual may not have authorized status in the US, but nonetheless deserves to be considered for non-prosecution for deportation. In addition to making unrealistically broad priorities for deportation, the memos set forth the administration’s intention to authorize state and local law enforcement to enforce federal immigration law. Again, these memos do not change the law but they drastically change prosecutorial discretion and execution of the federal immigration laws.
Memos at https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/17_0220_S1_Enforcement-of-the-Immigration-Laws-to-Serve-the-National-Interest.pdf
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