The Trump administration is quickly identifying ways to assemble the nationwide deportation force that President Trump promised on the campaign trail as he railed against the dangers posed by illegal immigration, reports the Washington Post. An internal Department of Homeland Security assessment shows the agency has already found 33,000 more detention beds to house undocumented immigrants, opened discussions with dozens of local police forces that could be empowered with enforcement authority and identified where construction of Trump’s border wall could begin. The agency also is considering ways to speed up the hiring of hundreds of new Customs and Border Patrol officers, including ending polygraph and physical fitness tests in some cases, according to the documents.
Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that the Trump administration is seeking to change long-established federal requirements on jails holding immigrants facing deportation. They include requirements to notify immigration officials if a detainee spends two weeks or longer in solitary confinement; to check on suicidal inmates every 15 minutes and evaluate their mental health every day; to inform detainees, in languages they can understand, how to obtain medical care, and to provide a staff member who can advocate in English on the detainee’s behalf.