They’ve lived in the U.S. for decades with legal protections. Now, ICE is planning to send them to countries they have no connection to.

Advocates fear the spate of recent arrests point to an attempt by the Trump administration to ramp up third country deportations, with the Supreme Court slated to consider the matter later this year.

It’s the latest move by the administration to sidestep protections which halt deportations for people’s safety.

Madeliene’s mother had a legal status called “withholding of removal,” which allows people to work legally, get permission to travel out of the country, or petition to bring family members into the country.

While this status has barred the federal government from deporting some immigrants to their home countries, the Trump administration has argued it can still forcibly send them to any number of other countries it has agreements with and argued it’s a “public safety tool.”

A day after Madeliene spoke to reporters outside 26 Federal Plaza, a federal judge ordered her mother’s release. Madeliene reunited with her mother at the Delaney Hall immigration detention center in New Jersey ten days after her arrest.

Read the full story, reported in partnership with @thecityny, at the link in bio.

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