Immigration

Independent, UK - A former U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement lawyer who was responsible for training new deportation officers warned Monday that the agency's training program for new recruits is “deficient, defective and broken.”

Ryan Schwank's comments during a forum held by congressional Democrats come at a time of intense scrutiny of the officers tasked with carrying out President Donald Trump's mass deportation agenda. Critics, including rights groups and Democratic politicians, have accused deportation officers of using excessive force when arresting immigrants, attacking bystanders who record their conduct and failing to follow constitutional protections of people's rights.

The Department of Homeland Security is rapidly scaling up the number of deportation officers, raising concerns that it will sacrifice proper screening and training of applicants in a rush to get them into the field. The department denied it was cutting corners, saying new officers get trained on firearms, use-of-force policies and how to safely arrest people.

NPR - A new federal class action lawsuit alleges federal agents are unconstitutionally retaliating against observers recording immigration enforcement. The nonprofit Protect Democracy and the law firms Dunn Isaacson Rhee and Drummond Woodsum filed the suit, alleging that federal  agents are gathering information about observers and labeling them as “domestic terrorists” after telling them they would be added to a “watchlist.” After the lawsuit was filed yesterday, the Department of Homeland Security told NPR that it doesn’t have a database for domestic terrorists. DHS also said that it follows the U.S. Constitution in its law enforcement methods.