Thread: Obama Administration Weak On Immigration Enforcement...

Obama and his liberal cronies like to claim that deportations and immigration enforcement action has increased under his Administration. The truth is, that he has not. Much of what they are claiming was started under the Bush Administration. In fact, the Obama Administration is shying away from immigration enforcement and deportation. Over the next few years, deportation and other enforcement actions are sure to show decreasing numbers.

FAIR: DHS Misleads Public with Partial Truth of Increased Enforcement
Criminal Alien Removals Up/Non-Criminal Alien Removals Down/Overall Removals Flat:

(Washington, D.C. October 7, 2010) Yesterday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano released the FY 2010 immigration deportation numbers claiming that "it’s been another record-breaking year of record criminal alien removals." Yet, Secretary Napolitano neglects to mention that while deportation of criminal aliens has risen, the total removals are roughly the same, and the number of non-criminal aliens removed has dropped substantially.

Responding to the new report, Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR,) noted, "It is nice to hear that Secretary Janet Napolitano believes that the removal of people in the country illegally especially those who have committed violent crimes — is an important function for DHS. However, policy directives from the highest levels of DHS clearly demonstrate that the administration is refusing to enforce laws against noncriminal aliens."

Removing violent and criminal aliens from American society must obviously be DHS’s highest immigration enforcement priority. However, while DHS has acted to remove criminal aliens already in custody, they have adopted policies to assure all non-criminal aliens in the country face no threat of removal

"Secretary Napolitano is giving herself and DHS a big pat on the back for stepping up enforcement without mentioning that the department is merely completing cases initiated under the previous administration, under policies that she and President Obama have aggressively dismantled since taking office," observed Stein. Some 58,000 fewer noncriminal aliens were deported in FY 2010 over the previous year.

DHS data show that the current administration has dramatically curtailed all aspects of immigration enforcement against illegal aliens who have not committed violent crimes in this country. In the critical area of worksite enforcement, administrative arrests have fallen by 77 percent, criminal arrests are down 60 percent, indictments are down 64 percent, and convictions have fallen by 68 percent since 2008.

"Once the pipeline opened under the Bush administration has been emptied, removal of illegal aliens who are not violent criminals will be reduced to a trickle," Stein said. "Resources appropriated by Congress intended to carry out worksite and other enforcement in the interior of the country are being used for meaningless paperwork audits, rather than serious enforcement against employers and the removal of illegal aliens from jobs that are desperately needed by American workers.

"It appears that the release of the FY 2010 data, and Secretary Napolitano’s media tour, have more to do with addressing what the administration perceives as a political weakness heading into the midterm elections, than a sincere effort to deter and combat illegal immigration," said Stein. "The goal is to convince the American people that immigration enforcement is being dealt with so that the administration can move on to its real policy objective: massive amnesty for every illegal alien who is not a violent felon.

"Getting criminal aliens out of the country is important. But the American people also believe that it is important to enforce laws against other illegal aliens who are filling millions of needed jobs and consuming billions in public resources. The administration is defiantly neglecting those responsibilities, while misleading the public by taking credit for the results of policies they are now dismantling," Stein concluded.

Source: http://www.fairus.org/site/News2?pag...s_iv_ctrl=1741

Administration Record on Deportations: Long on Rhetoric, Short on Results:

Demonstrating just how defensive they are about their record on immigration enforcement, the Obama administration mounted a full-scale public relations offensive to accompany release of FY 2010 data about deportations and removals. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano personally took charge of a media campaign touting what she described as “another record-breaking year of record criminal alien removals.”

In total, the DHS deported 392,862 aliens in FY 2010, which ended on September 30. Of those deported, some 195,000 had criminal records, up from about 132,000 the previous year. While no one would quibble with placing a priority on removing criminal aliens from the United States, the FY 2010 data reveal disturbing evidence of the administration’s refusal to enforce laws against illegal aliens who have not committed serious offenses once inside the country.

In 2010, about 58,000 fewer noncriminal aliens were deported than in 2009. Even more significantly, the number of new cases initiated since the Obama administration took office has fallen dramatically. In the critical area of worksite enforcement, administrative arrests have fallen by 77 percent, criminal arrests are down 60 percent, indictments are down 64 percent, and convictions have fallen 68 percent since 2008. Moreover, these data do not reflect the impact of more recent DHS policies that are resulting in a growing number of dismissals of existing deportation cases.

While taking credit for maintaining relatively high numbers of deportations, the Obama administration is hoping that nobody takes note of the fact that they are initiating very few new cases. As a result, deportation numbers are certain to plummet in coming years as the administration assiduously avoids apprehending illegal aliens who have not committed major crimes and releasing others who have fallen into their hands.

Moreover, the current levels of deportation, for which Secretary Napolitano is claiming credit, are inflated by cases initiated by the previous administration. Even many of the criminal aliens who were deported in FY 2010 were likely individuals whose deportation proceedings were initiated in previous years and whose prison sentences were completed during the most recent fiscal year. These deportations also are bolstered by the increased enforcement efforts of local jurisdictions, such as the 287(g) program, which the Obama administration has moved to curtail.

Far from being an indication of the Obama administration’s commitment to immigration enforcement, the FY 2010 data confirm that, except for enforcing immigration laws against violent criminals, the administration is systematically abandoning enforcement against all other categories of immigration lawbreakers. The net result is that once the pipeline of noncriminal deportation cases is emptied — either because the aliens were removed from the country, or because DHS just dismissed the case — such deportations will all but disappear.

FAIR does not contest the administration’s stated objective of prioritizing the removal of criminal aliens. However, removal of criminal aliens — most of whom are already in state or federal prisons — should not come at the exclusion of other deportations. The drop-off in enforcement against noncriminal aliens has less to do with the administration’s focus on criminals and more to do with their political objective of allowing noncriminal aliens to remain in this country as they promote a sweeping amnesty that would give legal status to those illegal aliens.

Source: http://www.fairus.org/site/PageNavig...ort_on_results

Senate Republicans Charge Administration with Selective Enforcement of Immigration Laws:

Earlier this year, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) memo indicated that the Obama administration was preparing to dismiss thousands of cases against illegal aliens who could be subject to deportation. That policy is already in effect, according to a letter sent by the seven Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano.

Consistent with the Obama administration’s policy of non-enforcement of immigration laws, cases against aliens already in deportation proceedings are being dismissed even without requests from the aliens or their lawyers. The most visible manifestation of this policy has occurred in Houston, where the number of dismissed immigration cases rose from 27 in July to 271 in August. Immigration attorneys in other cities report similar increases in unexpected dismissals of cases against their clients

The Oct. 21 letter states, “It appears that your department is enforcing the law based on criteria it arbitrarily chose, with complete disregard for the enforcement laws created by Congress.” In addition, Republican members of the Judiciary Committee charge that the administration policy has resulted in dismissal of deportation cases against criminal aliens. “Numerous criminal aliens are being released into society and are having proceedings terminated simply because ICE has decided that such cases do not fit within the Department's chosen enforcement priorities,” wrote the senators. Beyond the cases being dismissed by DHS, the policy is likely to discourage ICE officers from initiating new cases against deportable aliens, the senators warned.

Wholesale dismissal of cases already in process provides graphic evidence of the administration’s intent to defy Congress and implement what amounts to a backdoor amnesty. Having failed, so far, in their quest to grant a formal amnesty to illegal aliens, the administration has been exercising executive powers in an unprecedented fashion to ensure that all but the most violent and dangerous illegal aliens are allowed to remain in the country.

Source: http://www.fairus.org/site/PageNavig...ve_enforcement

Congressional Research Service Questions Administration’s Immigration Enforcement Claims:

In an effort to promote amnesty for illegal aliens, the Obama administration has been portraying itself as vigorously enforcing U.S. immigration laws. The clear objective of the administration is to convince the American people that it is effectively dealing with illegal immigration and that it is time to move forward with amnesty.

FAIR has repeatedly disputed those claims and has documented the administration’s unrelenting effort to dismantle effective immigration enforcement. One area in which FAIR has been highly critical involves the elimination of meaningful worksite enforcement aimed at punishing employers who hire illegal aliens and removing illegal workers from the country. Worksite enforcement, increased late in the Bush administration, has been replaced with paperwork audits of employers’ records. Under the Obama policy, employers avoid any serious consequences for having hired illegal aliens if they fire their illegal workers, while the workers themselves are allowed to remain in the country and seek employment elsewhere.

FAIR’s skepticism of the administration’s record on immigration enforcement is shared by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS examined the results of paperwork audits and found sharp declines in key areas of enforcement. According to the report, Immigration-Related Worksite Enforcement: Performance Measures, enforcement of immigration laws has dropped significantly in many key areas during the Obama administration’s first year in office.

The lone bright spot was in the area of fines collected from employers convicted of employing illegal aliens. The collections increased between 2008 and 2009, but still amounted to just $722,000. In all, a mere 52 employers nationwide were fined in 2009, which, according to CRS, “represents less than .001% of U.S. employers.”

Source: http://www.fairus.org/site/PageNavig...rcement_claims

From the Washington Post...

Unusual methods helped ICE break deportation record, e-mails and interviews show:

By Andrew Becker
Center for Investigative Reporting
Monday, December 6, 2010; 12:08 AM

For much of this year, the Obama administration touted its tougher-than-ever approach to immigration enforcement, culminating in a record number of deportations.

But in reaching 392,862 deportations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement included more than 19,000 immigrants who had exited the previous fiscal year, according to agency statistics. ICE also ran a Mexican repatriation program five weeks longer than ever before, allowing the agency to count at least 6,500 exits that, without the program, would normally have been tallied by the U.S. Border Patrol.

When ICE officials realized in the final weeks of the fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, that the agency still was in jeopardy of falling short of last year's mark, it scrambled to reach the goal. Officials quietly directed immigration officers to bypass backlogged immigration courts and time-consuming deportation hearings whenever possible, internal e-mails and interviews show.

Instead, officials told immigration officers to encourage eligible foreign nationals to accept a quick pass to their countries without a negative mark on their immigration record, ICE employees said.

The option, known as voluntary return, may have allowed hundreds of immigrants - who typically would have gone before an immigration judge to contest deportation for offenses such as drunken driving, domestic violence and misdemeanor assault - to leave the country. A voluntary return doesn't bar a foreigner from applying for legal residence or traveling to the United States in the future.

Once the agency closed the books for fiscal 2010 and the record was broken, agents say they were told to stop widely offering the voluntary return option and revert to business as usual.

Without these efforts and the more than 25,000 deportations that came with them, the agency would not have topped last year's record level of 389,834, current and former ICE employees and officials said.

The Obama administration was intent on doing so even as it came under attack by some Republicans for not being tough enough on immigration enforcement and by some Democrats for failing to deliver on promises of comprehensive immigration reform.

"It's not unusual for any administration to get the numbers they need by reaching into their bag of tricks to boost figures," said Neil Clark, who retired as the Seattle field office director in late June, adding that in the 12 years he spent in management he saw the Bush and Clinton administrations do similar things.

But at a news conference Oct. 6, ICE Director John T. Morton said that no unusual practices were used to break the previous year's mark.

"When the secretary tells you that the numbers are at an all-time high, that's straight, on the merits, no cooking of the books," Morton said, referring to his boss, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. "It's what happened."

ICE declined to make any officials available for interviews. In selected responses to e-mailed questions, spokesman Brian P. Hale wrote that the agency did nothing different from previous years but did not deny that ICE had focused on voluntary returns when it faced a shortfall weeks before the fiscal year ended. Rather, field offices were reminded of the voluntary return option, he said.

More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...120503230.html

Essentially, the corrupt anti American marxist/socialist maobama regime has created a de facto amnesty policy. Only NON AMNESTIABLE illegal alien criminals are being deported. ICE now goes right by hundreds of amnestiable illegals to get to that one non amnestiable criminal alien. Maobama knows that you can't give amnesty to an illegal mexihole future demoratic voter if amnestied if they've been deported.

Originally Posted by Clay

Essentially, the corrupt anti American marxist/socialist maobama regime has created a de facto amnesty policy. Only NON AMNESTIABLE illegal alien criminals are being deported. ICE now goes right by hundreds of amnestiable illegals to get to that one non amnestiable criminal alien. Maobama knows that you can't give amnesty to an illegal mexihole future demoratic voter if amnestied if they've been deported.

True. Obama is giving backdoor amnesty.

And that's just for one year...

CBO: 748,000 Foreign Nationals Granted U.S. Permanent Residency Status in 2009 Because They Had Immediate Family Legally Living in America
Tuesday, January 11, 2011 – Foreign nationals with family ties to American citizens and green-card holders accounted for about two-thirds (748,000) of the total 1.1 million individuals who were granted legal permanent residency status by the U.S. government in 2009, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

The number of foreign nationals who became legal permanent residents (LPRs) of the U.S. in 2009 as a result of family ties (66 percent) outpaced those who became LPRs on the basis of employment skills (13 percent) and humanitarian reasons (17 percent), the CBO revealed in a December 2010 report entitled, Immigration Policy in the United States: An Update. “People granted permanent admission to the United States are formally classified as legal permanent residents and given a green card,” noted the CBO. “LPRs are eligible to live and work in the United States, own property, and join the armed forces; eventually, they may apply for U.S. citizenship.”

An individual who becomes an LPR or U.S. citizen can then sponsor the admittance of immediate family members into the U.S. “In 2009, the United States granted LPR status to 1.1 million individuals, which is about average for the 2005–2009 period,” the CBO later added. “Family-based admissions, which include admissions of immediate relatives of U.S. citizens and admissions under the program of family-sponsored preferences, together accounted for 66 percent of total admissions of legal permanent residents in 2009.”

“About 536,000—or almost half—of the LPRs admitted in 2009 were immediate relatives of U.S. citizens…other relatives admitted under family-sponsored preferences constituted the next largest category, accounting for 212,000 new LPRs in 2009,” the CBO stated. There are five categories under which the U.S. grants permanent residency status to foreign nationals, according to CBO. They include: relatives of U.S. citizens, family-sponsored preferences, employment-based preferences, the Diversity Program, and humanitarian reasons.

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White House loosens border rules for 2012:

President Barack Obama’s administration is quietly offering a quasi-amnesty for hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants, while aiming to win reelection by mobilizing a wave of new Hispanic voters, say supporters of stronger immigration law enforcement.

The new rules were quietly announced Friday with a new memo from top officials at the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. The “prosecutorial discretion” memo says officials need not enforce immigration laws if illegal immigrants are enrolled in an education center or if their relatives have volunteered for the US military.

“They’re pushing the [immigration] agents to be even more lax, to go further in not enforcing the law,” said Kris Kobach, Kansas’ secretary of state. “At a time when millions of Americans are unemployed and looking for work, this is more bad news coming from the Obama administration… [if the administration] really cared about putting Americans back to work, it would be vigorously enforcing the law,” said Kobach, who has helped legislators in several states draft local immigration-related laws.

“We think it is an excellent step,” said Laura Vasquez, at the Hispanic-advocacy group, La Raza, which pushed for the policies, and which is working with other groups to register Hispanics to vote in 2012. “What’s very important is how the prosecutorial discretion memo is implemented” on the streets, she said.

The Hispanic vote could be crucial in the 2012 election, because the Obama campaign hopes to offset its declining poll ratings by registering new Hispanic voters in crucial swing states, such as Virginia and North Carolina.

To boost the Hispanic vote, the administration has enlisted support from Hispanic media figures, appointed an experienced Hispanic political operative to run the political side of the Obama reelection campaign, and has maintained close ties to Hispanic advocacy groups, including La Raza. For example, La Raza’s former senior vice president and lobbyist, Cecilia Munoz, was hired by the Obama administration as director of intergovernmental affairs in 2009.

On Friday, officials at ICE announced several new administrative changes to immigration enforcement.

The primary document was the six-page “prosecutorial discretion” memo, which provided new reasons for officials to not deport illegal immigrants.

Source: http://www.marklevinshow.com/goout.a...ules-for-2012/

President pandering to the La Raza crowd...

Obama: Idea of Changing Immigration Laws on My Own ‘Is Very Tempting’
Tuesday, July 26, 2011 - President Barack Obama told a Hispanic civil rights group on Monday that the idea of reforming the U.S. immigration system on his own “is very tempting,” but under the U.S. Constitution, he is unable to do so without Congress.

“I swore an oath to uphold the laws on the books, but that doesn't mean I don't know very well the real pain and heartbreak that deportations cause,” Obama told the National Council of La Raza at the group’s annual meeting in Washington. “I share your concerns and I understand them. And I promise you, we are responding to your concerns and working every day to make sure we are enforcing flawed laws in the most humane and best possible way. “Now, I know some people want me to bypass Congress and change the laws on my own -- and believe me, right now, dealing with Congress--” The audience interrupted him with chants of “Yes you can! Yes you can!”

“Believe me -- believe me, the idea of doing things on my own is very tempting,” Obama responded. “I promise you. Not just on immigration reform. But that's not how -- that's not how our system works.” “That’s not how our democracy functions,” he continued. “That's not how our Constitution is written.” To some critics, it appears that the Obama administration is taking immigration matters into its own hands.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE), a component of the Department of Homeland Security, in a June 17 memo directed federal authorities to use "prosecutorial discretion" in deciding which illegal aliens to detain and deport, citing limited resources as the reason. The intention is to kick out the worst offenders and release the all the others – specifically victims of domestic violence and other crimes; witnesses to crimes; or people who are charged with minor traffic violations.

Obama told the La Raza crowd that fixing the immigration system is “unfinished business” for his administration, and he promised to work tirelessly to improve it, although the White House – aside from floating ideas in speeches -- has not put forward its own immigration reform plan. The president also said he supports the DREAM Act, introduced by congressional Democrats. The DREAM Act, which Congress rejected last December, would provide a path to legal status for illegal immigrants who were brought to the U.S. before age 16 and who have been here for five years, graduated high school or gained a similar certification, and who join the military or attend college.

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