DHS orders employees back to work after Trump’s mandate and ahead of expected mass deportations

On By Littum

Employees of the Department of Homeland Security have been ordered back to office as the agency follows up on new President Donald Trump’s executive order and ahead of his expected mass deportations of illegal migrants.

In a memo shortly after the inauguration, Acting DHS Secretary Benjamine Huffman said the amount of hours spent in office across the agency was “unacceptable.” He cited how 28.9 percent of the total hours worked by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, 24.4 percent of the hours worked by US Coast Guard personnel and 39.7 percent of the hours for Cyber ​​Security and Infrastructure Security Agency, was carried out at the office, according to an internal memo seen by ABC News.

“These numbers are unacceptable. It is the policy of this agency that employees work at their duty station — whether in an office or in the field — to the maximum extent possible,” Huffman said.

He also told staff that each component of DHS would have to file a report on officials who had not returned to work within 30 days, ABC reported.

President Donald Trump has ordered federal workers back to the office — and the Department of Homeland Security wasted no time

President Donald Trump has ordered federal workers back to the office — and the Department of Homeland Security wasted no time (AP)

Workers must provide sufficient documentation justifying the reasons for continuing to work remotely.

Huffman wrote in the memo: “Reasons may include lack of adequate office space, physical incapacity of the employee or a legal impediment.”

The decision to call back workers comes in tandem with Trump’s order union workers should return to work and that he would crack down on immigration by declaring a national emergency at the borders and instigating mass deportations in American cities. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement falls under the DHS umbrella.

Trump signed more immigration-related announcements on Monday to begin a mass deportation process. The stark list of orders included eliminating birthright citizenship — a constitutional right, declaring a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border, reinstating the “remain in Mexico” policy, freezing asylum applications and shutting down the migrant entry app CBP One.

He also promised to intensify the deportation push by increasing the presence of the armed forces and the National Guard at the borders “to assist existing law enforcement personnel.”