50 Green Card holders on deportation list: See who could be next?

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has flagged 50 green card holders for possible deportation as part of a sweeping re-vetting of older immigration cases.

This indicates that permanent residency is no longer secure.

In the latest deportation drive, officials have reviewed approximately 2900 cases to date. The majorly targeted people are individuals with fraud and security concerns, but critics argue that it places law-abiding permanent residents under undue scrutiny.

The sweep reaches out further than just unauthorised immigrants, an unprecedented turnabout from prior enforcement strategies. This operation has been spearheaded by the new Tactical Operations Division within the US Citizenship and Immigration Services.

In excess of 11 million immigration cases currently sit unprocessed; one must wonder whether the department will be able to handle its current workload along with the new enforcement campaign.

Individuals at high-risk of deportation are:

• Individuals with criminal convictions (Sexual assault, domestic violence, driving under the influence, drug-related crimes)
  
• Individuals with national security concerns (Suspected ties to foreign hostile entities, members of IRGC, involved in illegally obtaining export-controlled technology)
  
• Individuals committed fraud or misrepresentation (lied on Green Card application forms, submitted fraudulent documents, concealed criminal history, engaged in marriage fraud)
  
• Individuals who abandoned U.S. residency (spent more than six months outside the U.S., spent one year or longer abroad without a re-entry permit)
  
• Individuals with old, unresolved cases
  

The doubts have risen to the top. Michael Banks, chief of the US Border Patrol, stepped down Thursday, becoming another casualty of an agency in turmoil. Banks is just the latest official to depart amid a wave of departures from DHS that includes Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.