What Is the Family Expedited Removal Management Program?
In May 2023, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) introduced a new procedure for families entering the United States seeking asylum and are placed in expedited removal (ER) proceedings. Historically, people placed in expedited removal are detained in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody pending their credible fear interview (CFI).
This new procedure is called the Family Expedited Removal Management program, or FERM. Under the FERM process, families are put under electronic surveillance and allowed to travel to their intended destination city to await a non-detained CFI.
What is the intent of the FERM program?
FERM is intended to help ensure that families in the credible fear process take part in a well-timed credible fear interview with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and any requested review by an immigration judge without being detained. Heads of household will be eligible for FERM enrollment if they are:
- Processed for expedited removal
- Nationals of countries to which ICE maintains regular removal flights
- Residing in a location under the jurisdiction of the ICE field office based in one of four FERM-destination cities
FERM is currently being executed in 45 cities across the U.S. The FERM program will place FERM-eligible heads of household on Alternatives to Detention (ATD) technology — meaning the head of the family will wear an electronic ankle monitor, carry an ATD device allowing ICE to track them, be under a curfew from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m., and comply with in-person reporting obligations.
Families who receive a final negative CFI determination will generally be removed from the U.S. within 30 days from processing into expedited removal and referral to USCIS. Like unmarried adults, noncitizens traveling with their children who do not have a lawful basis to remain in the U.S. will be rapidly removed and ineligible for reentry for at least five years. Most heads of households of family units not eligible for FERM will be assigned other types of ATD.
DHS plans to process FERM cases under a very short timeline, which includes holding the CFI just six to 12 days after the family’s arrival in the U.S. If the asylum office rejects the family’s claim, they can request an immigration judge review, which usually happens within 48 hours of the unfavorable decision. However, these relatively brief time frames may present serious challenges regarding pursuing legal advice, consultation and representation.
Pros and cons of the FERM program
ERM gives the U.S. government a way to monitor asylum-seeking families with technology and surveillance rather than detention — GPS ankle monitors, a phone application, and nighttime curfews — while they move through the expedited removal process from the U.S.
While FERM has a number of drawbacks, many consider the program preferable to the long-term detention of children and families. For many years, family detention has negatively affected parents, created due process concerns, negatively impacted children’s physical and psychological health, and cost U.S. taxpayers far greater amounts of money than more humane alternatives.
One of FERM’s advantages is that it does not hold families in detention centers, where experts have said they should not be. By eluding long term stays in federal facilities, children can avoid most of the clearly established health risks that they often experience in a more restrictive, jail-like setting. Families may also have more access to resources and services such as legal representation, medical care, public school, and a larger support network.
However, FERM presents extreme challenges for asylum-seeking families who often do not have cell phones of their own, don’t speak English, have no personal mode of transportation, have no income or very little money, and have a very limited grasp of the legal process they have abruptly been introduced into and their lives depend upon.
Amid these challenges, families must also somehow find a way to report to their in-person check-ins with ICE, navigate virtual check-ins with ICE via cell phone, deal with the stigma of an ankle monitor, try to locate legal counsel or orientation in the few days before their CFI with an Asylum Officer, and arrange transportation to the in-person CFI (which can be up to 75 miles away from where they live). The rushed FERM process presents many challenges to securing legal orientation and representation.
At LaFevor & Slaughter, we understand the effect that removal from the U.S. has on families seeking asylum. Our Knoxville family immigration lawyers understand how imperative it is that immigrant families remain together. We examine your situation and help keep families together by defending their rights in immigration courts. We will go to Memphis or Atlanta to represent you before a judge in a hearing for Cancellation of Removal if you are eligible.
If you are facing deportation or you or a loved one are currently being detained by the ICE, LaFevor & Slaughter wants to help. Please call our Knoxville asylum attorneys or fill out our contact form to schedule an appointment with one of our family immigration lawyers today.
