Charles Davis reports for The Guardian:
The Trump administration is quietly partnering with a government it publicly accuses of killing its own people, in an effort to speed up the deportation of Nicaraguan citizens, the Guardian can reveal.
The partnership between Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the government of Nicaragua’s president, Daniel Ortega, began a week before mass protests erupted in the Central American country, and it continues despite a war of words between Washington and Managua.
This week, the White House press secretary, Sarah Sanders, declared the Ortega government responsible for “indiscriminate violence” that has left scores dead and thousands injured since protests began three months ago. “The United States stands with the people of Nicaragua,” she said.
AdvertisementHideOrtega, meanwhile, has described the protesters as coup-plotters and terroristsinvolved in a US-backed conspiracy.
But when it comes to deporting Nicaraguans who live in the United States, the two governments are still working hand in hand.
Ice officials signed a memorandum of understanding with Managua in April to expedite the deportation of Nicaraguan citizens – shortly after Donald Trump revoked temporary protective status (TPS) for around 2,500 Nicaraguan immigrants.
“Enhancing cooperation with our foreign partners to streamline and improve the removal process is a key part of enforcing our immigration laws and protecting our homeland,” Ice’s assistant director Marlen Piñeiro said in a press releaseannouncing the deal.
Under the agreement, Ice provides training for “authorized foreign partners” on how to access the US’s electronic travel document system, a database of foreign nationals that includes biographic and biometric information that its partners can use to identify their citizens.
The system allows the Nicaraguan government to upload travel documents that Ice agents can then print out “at detention facilities or field offices”.
. . . .
Read the rest of the article at the link.
Ever wonder why the “Abolish ICE” movement is going more “mainstream” and picking up steam? ICE does perform valuable law enforcement functions. That’s exactly why a dissident group of ICE Agents engaged in real law enforcement are seeking a split.
However, too much of what ICE does today on the so-called “civil side” is anywhere from “misguided and wasteful” to “counterproductive and damaging to our country.”
Yes, somebody does need to perform ICE’s functions. But no, they don’t have to be performed the way ICE is performing them now.
Interestingly, under Trump we now support leftist governments in persecution just as long as the victims are Hispanic (or I assume Muslim, African, or any non-white or non-Christian population) and they get killed before they can get to the US to claim asylum. Or, they get killed after we deny them protection and return them to danger.
Either way, folks should take a close look of what America has come to represent under Trump, Sessions, and the White Nationalists.
History and our grandchildren will ultimately hold us accountable for Trump’s destruction of America and disrespect for human rights, even if it is improperly being “normalized” in today’s topsy turvy world.
PWS
08-04-17