The backdoor amnesty program for illegals

Houston Chronicle:

Homeland Security officials misled the public and Congress last year in an effort to downplay a wave of immigration case dismissals in Houston and other cities amid accusations that they had created a "back-door amnesty," newly released records show.

The records, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, include a series of internal memos from Immigration and Customs Enforcement's chief counsel in Houston dated last August ordering attorneys to review all new, incoming cases and thousands already pending on the immigration court docket and to file paperwork to dismiss any that did not meet the agency's "top priorities."

The secretive review process resulted in the dismissal of hundreds of cases in Houston, most of them involving illegal immigrants who had lived in the United States for years without committing serious crimes.

A string of emails shows the dismissals had the blessings of top attorneys at ICE headquarters in Washington, D.C., last summer and that other ICE legal offices across the country were encouraged to consider measures to better use the agency's limited resources to target dangerous criminals.

The records also document for the first time that the agency quietly rescinded the Houston memo on Aug. 25 — the day the Houston Chronicle broke the story on the dismissals — amid allegations from conservatives that the Obama administration had created a stealth amnesty program for illegal immigrants.

ICE public affairs officials in Washington initially refused either to confirm or deny the dismissals, and then told several news outlets that they affected only a very narrow class of illegal immigrants with pending green card applications described in a different agency memo. After Senate Judiciary Committee members demanded an investigation last fall into the Houston dismissals, Homeland Security officials reiterated the same claim they made to the media.

However, the newly released documents show conclusively that government attorneys in Houston were given wide latitude to file motions to dismiss cases, including some involving immigrants with convictions for primarily misdemeanor offenses.

"It now appears that DHS attempted to mislead the public and Congress on its policy of directing dismissals of cases against criminal aliens," said Jessica Sandlin, Sen. John Cornyn's Texas press secretary. "After this failed attempt at stonewalling and obstruction of the public's right to know, the truth is now coming out."

...

... the internal records show the Houston office's efforts were praised internally by supervisors at ICE headquarters in Washington until news of the dismissals broke. And immigration court data shows the number of cases dismissed nationally grew by about 40 percent last fiscal year, with several courts scattered across the country reporting major increases.

Immigrant advocates praised the dismissals as a common-sense measure, but the more lenient shift in agency policy has prompted protests from within ICE's rank-and-file, with union officials accusing the administration of straying from its core mission to enforce the nation's immigration laws.

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The controversy dates to June 2010, when ICE Director John Morton issued a memo to all agency employees explaining that it had the resources to remove only about 400,000 illegal immigrants annually - less than 4 percent of the estimated illegal immigrant population.

Morton said ICE needed to prioritize the deportations of illegal immigrants to those who pose a risk to national security and public safety, recent illegal entrants and repeat immigration violators.

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There is more.

It seems clear that this administration is not interested in deterring future illegal immigration. What they are saying is that there is no consequence to coming here illegally as long as you do not get caught committing a serious crime. They are also insuring that there will be no self deportations which is the best way to deal with illegal immigrants. Self deportation is cheaper for the government and the immigrant, but this administration is doing nothing to encourage it.

I think it is because Obama and Morton see illegals as future Democrat voters rather than as someone who is clearly violating the rule of law when it comes to immigration. Morton is not a guy who intends to enforce the rule of law nor is Obama when it comes to our immigration laws.