Deportees Will Be Allowed Back In

The Department of Homeland Security is going to allow deportees with ties to Southern California to return to the U.S. as part of a settlement of an ACLU lawsuit. Officials will also no longer use threats and intimidation against immigrants facing deportation. The agreement with the government and lawyers from the ACLU only covers Southern California. Between 2009 and 2013, the period covered by the lawsuit, 250,000 people deported voluntarily, although only a fraction of those are expected to return. “This is a historic settlement that will end a practice that tears families apart,” said Norma Chavez Peterson, executive director of the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial counties. The lawsuit had accused federal agents of using intimidation, threats, and misinformation to get immigrants to voluntarily deport.