New ICE memo allows for third party deportations in as little as 6 hours, officials say

South Florida communities are on edge after the Trump administration revealed a concerning memo confirming that immigrants detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement can now be deported from the country with as little as six hours notice As countless immigrants in the region are in legal limbo ICE has been authorized to expedite the deportation process for all detained non-citizens including long-term US residents The new memo also allows ICE agents to deport asylum seekers to countries that are not their native land with only hours notice even if those countries offer no guarantee of safety The strategy was laid out in a memo by the acting director of ICE Todd Lyons expanding the controversial use of third-country deportations We have the highest detention standards out of any other prison system in the United States ICE standards are the highest he reported This new facility is a great one What it s doing for us is that ICE doesn t detain punitively We detain to remove people We don t want to have people in custody According to immigration advocates the short time period renders it nearly impossible to gather a proper defense effectively denying due process Democratic lawmakers who toured Alligator Alcatraz in the Everglades are calling for its closure They raised concerns about food quality drinking water and high temperature saying the detainees were packed into cages The state and federal regime as well as other proponents of the facility defend the quality of life for detainees