President Biden Orders a Review of Deportation and Enforcement Priorities

On January 25, 2017, just days after taking office, President Trump issued an executive order, removing deportation priorities previously established by President Obama. Among other things, his order increased the number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, significantly expanded priorities for deportation, limited prosecutorial discretion, expanded the use of expedited removal (deportation without the ability to appear before an immigration judge), and terminated funding for so-called “sanctuary cities”.

President Biden revoked that executive order on January 20, 2021, and ordered that during the next one hundred (100) days, the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Director of Office of Management and Budget, and the Director of Office of Personnel Management, conduct a comprehensive review of agency actions taken under that executive order and take any action needed, including establishing revised priority guidelines.