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President Trump is calling in the cavalry to help ICE catch and deport illegal migrants in the US.
The Trump administration has granted permission to the DEA, ATF, and the US Marshals to initiate immigration arrests and manage deportations, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman issued the authorization on Wednesday, enabling federal agents to have the same powers as Homeland Security and FBI agents in handling illegal immigrants, as per the report.
Prior to this authorization, agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Marshals lacked the authority to act if they apprehended an individual who was in the country illegally, revealed retired ATF Deputy Assistant Director Peter Forcelli.
They were had to rely on Immigration and Customs Enforcement to deal with immigration issues, he said.
The new orders will help free up ICE agents tied up with their own illegal immigrant targets while expanding the number of immigration-related arrests nationwide, he said.
“It makes perfect sense,” said Forcelli.
The new sweeping change is part of flurry of new directives Trump has issued to fortify the border and crack down on the illegal immigration crisis across the country, including in sanctuary cities.
One major change has been the ending of the Biden administration’s catch-and-release policy at the border that allowed millions of migrants to enter the US and go free within hours or days of crossing illegally, according to an internal memo obtained by The Post.
Migrants are now being denied access to the asylum system and are being immediately turned back to Mexico, per Border Patrol sources.
And ICE has already made hundreds of arrests in recent days of illegal migrant criminals.
On Tuesday, ICE officers across the country, including in sanctuary cities, made 308 arrests that included an attempted murderer and a child molester, as first reported by The Post.
The following day, ICE officers in Boston arrested several illegal immigrants, including gang members, murderers and rapists, during a pre-dawn targeted operation, Fox News reported.