President Donald Trump’s administration is reversing what officials call President Joe Biden’s “quiet amnesty” by reopening hundreds of thousands of previously closed deportation cases, Breitbart reported.
The Department of Homeland Security has begun reviving deportation cases that were not adjudicated on the merits and were administratively closed during the Biden administration, ending a practice critics say allowed illegal immigrants to remain in the United States indefinitely without proper cause.
Under Biden, immigration courts were instructed to dismiss or close many deportation cases rather than fully adjudicate them. Most of those asylum claims are typically found to be invalid, according to DHS.
“Biden chose to release millions of illegal aliens, including criminals, into the country and used prosecutorial discretion to indefinitely delay their cases and allow them to illegally remain in the United States,” DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said. “Now, President Trump and Secretary [Kristi] Noem are following the law and resuming these illegal aliens’ removal proceedings and ensuring their cases are heard by a judge.”
A 2023 House Judiciary Subcommittee report detailed the scale of what Republicans have labeled “quiet amnesty.” It found that more than 700,000 illegal immigrants had cases dismissed, terminated, or administratively closed under Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
The policy shift has reignited deportation proceedings for immigrants like Jesus Adan Rico and Maria Torres, both of whom believed their cases were permanently shelved, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Rico, a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipient, learned just weeks ago that his decade-old case was back on the docket. Torres, who came to the U.S. at age 2 and married a U.S. citizen, was preparing for a green card interview when her case was revived.
“No matter what we do, no matter how far we go in school, in our jobs, and with our families, it doesn’t matter,” Rico said. “It is all hanging by a thread.”
Immigration attorneys across the country report a surge in motions to “recalendar” cases, often without explanation or individual analysis. Some critics argue the administration’s approach is overwhelming the courts and undermining due process.
David L. Wilson, an immigration attorney in Minneapolis, said he has received dozens of government motions since late May.
“The court is drowning in these motions because we’re trying to resist these,” Wilson said.
Since the 1970s, administrative closures have been used to ease court backlogs, allowing immigrants time to pursue other forms of relief, such as hardship waivers or deferred status. The Trump administration’s lawyers contend many affected immigrants still lack legal status, making them appropriate for deportation.
Attorneys and clients now face tight deadlines to respond, often scrambling to locate old files or even confirm whether clients are still alive. For Rico, whose attorney has died, the news was especially jarring.
“If it wasn’t for his daughter calling, I would have never found out my case was reopened,” he said. “The Department of Homeland Security never sent me anything.”
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