(TruthAndLiberty.com) – NBC News reported that the Biden administration has brought forward a new policy that would make it possible for classified information to be shared during an immigration hearing and proceeding.
In a memo on May 9 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas had brought forward the policy. The change is going to mean that asylum officers and immigration judges are going to be given more access to information that would potentially link migrants to terrorist organizations or that showed whether or not the migrants in question could potentially pose any threat to public safety.
Classified information in the past could be used in immigration proceedings but only as a “last resort.” This was based on a 2004 directive which noted that the DHS secretary needed to give their approval in order for any such information to be shared by prosecutors when arguing that a migrant needed to be deported.
However, as per the new memo approval can also be granted by an agency head, including the head of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services or the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The administration is trying to decide on whether additional storage is necessary for the information to be stored and shared, or if more security clearances are needed.
NBC News cited a DHS official who had claimed that in the last half a decade they have seen a change in how transnational criminal organizations have been involved in the movement of people from the Eastern hemisphere. They added that the terrorist threat landscape has grown in complexity in the last few years.
Copyright 2024, TruthAndLiberty.com
