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Kristi Noem defends U.S. migration tactics
El Paso, Texas — Immigration officials flew a 2-year-old U.S. national to Honduras past week due to the fact that her mother, who faced deportation, "wanted her kid with her," Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says.
Noem spoke astir the case, which drew alarm from a national judge, successful a wide-ranging interrogation with CBS News astatine the U.S.-Mexico borderline connected Monday, covering President Trump's migration crackdown and immoderate of the ensuing ineligible controversies.
Mr. Trump retook the White House connected a committedness of tighter borderline information and a crackdown connected amerciable immigration. Now, 100 days in, the medication is touting a 95% driblet successful amerciable crossings on the confederate border, and the fewest "encounters" reported determination successful decades.
But erstwhile it comes to removing the millions of undocumented immigrants who person already crossed into the U.S. oregon overstayed their visas, the Trump medication has faced ineligible pushback.
"We've been doing this correctly. We've been gathering cases. We've been going aft the worst of the worst and doing it the close way," Noem said.
A fig of national judges aren't truthful sure, including astir precocious successful the lawsuit of the undocumented mother who was deported to Honduras connected Friday. Her 2-year-old — a U.S. national — was besides removed from the U.S. with her earlier a tribunal could clarify the child's interests. The result, wrote U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty, is the "strong suspicion that the authorities conscionable deported a U.S. national with nary meaningful process."
"I fundamentally disagree with that. I'm definite that these judges volition proceed to situation each azygous happening that this medication does. We person respective activistic judges crossed the state that person made claims specified arsenic this. But that parent made a prime for her kid and wanted to support her kid with her," Noem said.
Some of the judges who person ruled against the administration's migration policies were nominated by Republicans, including Doughty — a Trump nominee — and a Reagan-appointed appeals tribunal justice who called the Trump administration's claims successful the lawsuit of the mistakenly deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia "shocking."
When pressed connected whether those judges are activists, Noem said determination are "legal opinions connected some sides of that issue. And that's wherefore we person a tribunal system, truthful that decisions similar that tin beryllium appealed and the Supreme Court tin marque decisions yet that volition springiness america overmuch much clarity connected what owed process is, what it's defined by, and what it is followed on."
The 2-year-old girl, her 11-year-old sister and her parent were taken into custody Tuesday greeting during a regular check-in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents successful New Orleans. An lawyer for the household notified migration authorities that the miss was a U.S. national and emailed a transcript of her commencement certificate to ICE, according to tribunal documents. But aboriginal that day, an ICE cause called the girl's begetter and informed him that "they were going to deport his spouse and daughters," the documents said.
The Trump medication submitted a missive dated April 24 successful national tribunal that officials accidental shows the parent agreed to person her young girl travel with her to Honduras.
Attorneys representing the household said the girl's father, who is believed to inactive beryllium successful the U.S., tried to name idiosyncratic to beryllium the child's ineligible guardian, truthful she could stay successful the U.S. But an ICE authoritative said successful a tribunal filing that the bureau did not get the required accusation to bash that. A tribunal proceeding connected the substance has been scheduled for May 16.
When asked if the 2-year-old could instrumentality if a comparative successful the U.S. wanted the kid backmost and the parent agrees, Noem said, "Yes, absolutely. And that's the process."
"This parent gave america documentation and afloat said she wanted her kid with her, and we honored that," Noem said.
Noem denied that harshness is portion of the administration's connection successful removing mothers who person U.S. children from the country.
"With families, we admit that families tin enactment together. And truthful these mothers get the enactment to instrumentality their children with them, which I deliberation is perfectly wherever President Trump's bosom is," she said. "I deliberation the mothers should person the enactment to person their children with them. And then, if those mothers bash permission and take to registry and self-deport, them and their children tin travel back, oregon if they privation to person their kid cared for by idiosyncratic other successful the United States, that's an enactment that they tin prosecute too."
ICE said Tuesday it has carried retired astir 66,500 arrests and deported astir 65,700 unauthorized immigrants since Jan. 20. Three successful 4 of those arrests progressive unauthorized immigrants with transgression records, according to the agency.
Despite the administration's crackdown, Noem said she inactive wants the U.S. to person a welcoming cognition to ineligible immigration.
"Oh, absolutely," she said. "And that's portion of our process we request to fix."
Camilo Montoya Galvez contributed reporting.
Camilo Montoya-Galvez contributed to this report.
Tony Dokoupil is simply a co-host of "CBS Mornings" and CBS Mornings Plus." Dokoupil besides anchors "The Uplift," a play bid spotlighting affirmative and inspiring stories for CBS News 24/7.
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