Segregate, ridicule, deport and repeat

A woman protester during a rally called ‘I Am A Muslim Too' in a show of solidarity with American Muslims at Times Square. Pic/AFP

Washington: The Trump administration has issued tough guidelines to widen the net for deporting illegal immigrants from the US, and speed up their removal. Documents released on Tuesday by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revealed the broad scope of the President's ambitions: to publicise crimes by undocumented immigrants, strip such immigrants of privacy protections, enlist local police officers as enforcers, erect new detention facilities, discourage asylum seekers, and, ultimately, speed up deportations, the New York Times reported.

Undocumented immigrants arrested for traffic violations or shoplifting will be targeted along with those convicted of more serious crimes. Major steps outlined in the papers included hiring more Customs and Border Protection agents, expanding a programme that gives DHS Secretary John Kelly more power in directing field operations, initiating a wall along the US-Mexican border, and stepping up the effort to "return aliens to contiguous countries". White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the new guidelines would not usher in mass deportations, but were designed to empower agents to enforce laws already on the books.

EU open to skilled Indian professionals
The European Union yesterday said it is ready to accommodate more Indian IT professionals. David McAllister, head of the delegation of European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs said, "Our IT sector would not have been successful if we did not have skilled professionals from India."