Department of Homeland Security Refuses to Enforce Immigration Law

Through his DHS secretary, President Obama continues to make life in the United States more dangerous. Janet Napolitanto is doing everything she can to stop the enforcement of immigration law in the US. She has said that she will only concentrate on "criminal aliens" when enforcing federal immigration law. But wait if they came into the US illegally aren't they ALL "criminal aliens?" She is also directing DHS to gag local law enforcement agencies around the country to protect the privacy of illegal aliens.

Under "revised" 287(g) agreements between the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement division and state and local law enforcement agencies, any information about local police efforts to enforce federal immigration law must be cleared through ICE before it can be released to the media or the public. DHS says it is doing this to protect the privacy of illegal aliens.

“The Privacy Act and the privacy policy provide protections for U.S. citizens, legal permanent residents and, in the case of the privacy policy, illegal aliens,” Kelly Nantel, press secretary for ICE, told CNSNews.com, referring to the Privacy Act of 1974.

Nantel said that although illegal aliens are not protected under the Privacy Act, it is the policy of the Department of Homeland Security to extend the privacy protection to individuals who are in the country illegally, a policy she said was put into place by former DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff, who served under President Bush.

“Any information regarding individuals encountered through the enforcement of federal law is ultimately protected,” Nantel said. “We need to be sure that prior to the release of information, an appropriate determination is made regarding those protections.”

The DHS's agreements with local law enforcement agencies--known as Memorandums of Agreement (MOA)--guide the 287(g) program, which was created in 2003 as an amendment to the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. The 287(g) program trains and certifies state and local law enforcement personnel to enforce federal immigration law.

Earlier this month, President Obama's Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security have decided to strip Sheriff Joe Arpaio of "official authority" to capture illegal immigrants because he was too successful.  In the last three years has handed over 30,000 illegal immigrants to Immigration for deportation, but the Obama administration says the priority for local law enforcers should be illegal aliens arrested for or convicted of crimes not people arrested in task force sweeps simply for being in the U.S. illegally (Sheriff Joe's "Mistake").

 

DHS has sent out a directive announcing their new priorities informing local law enforcement that they will only assume custody of "criminal aliens"

“ICE will assume custody of an alien 1) who has been convicted of a State, local or Federal offense only after being informed by the alien’s custodian that such alien has concluded service of any sentence of incarceration; 2) who has prior criminal convictions and when immigration detention is required by statute; and 3) when the ICE Detention and Removal  Field Office Director or his designee decides on a case-by-case basis to assume custody of an alien who does not meet the above criteria.”

CNSNews.com asked Nantel if the Obama administration, DHS, and ICE support the arrest and deportation of individuals who are in the country illegally, regardless of whether they have committed a crime. Nantel did not give a simple yes-or-no answer to this question, saying instead that the administration will remove illegal aliens according to "DHS priorities."

The revised MOAs given to all of DHS's local law enforcement “partners” includes the following language governing the “release of information to the media and other third parties.”

“The [state or local agency] hereby agrees to coordinate with ICE prior to releasing any information relating to, or exchanged under, this MOA, including any SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) developed for the implementation of this MOA. Information obtained or developed as a result of this MOA is under the control of ICE and shall be subject to public disclosure only pursuant to the provisions of applicable federal laws, regulations, and executive orders. Insofar as any documents created by the [state or local agency] contain information developed or obtained as a result of this MOA, such documents shall not be considered public records.”  

 

Congress has reacted to the new laws, Fifty-four members of Congress, mostly Republicans, have signed a letter to President Barack Obama praising the 287(g) program that allows specially trained state and local law enforcement officers to enforce federal immigration law.

The Oct. 26 letter comes shortly after the Obama administration imposed new limits on state and local law enforcers, preventing them from arresting many of the illegal immigrants with whom they come into contact. Rep. Lamar Smith, ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee, said contrary to claims that it was supposed to focus only on serious crimes, the 287(g) program was intended to allow states and local law enforcement officials to enforce all immigration laws – “not just a select few.”

“One of the most effective things we can do to prevent illegal immigrant crimes in the first place is to deport illegal immigrants before they’ve committed one, whether they are identified in jails or by law enforcement task forces,” Smith said.

Smith and the other letter-signers are urging the Obama administration not to “politicize this highly effective immigration enforcement and public safety program.”

Thanks to the 287(g) program, they said, thousands of illegal immigrants who are identified in jails and through task force operations are being deported. Smith added that the “open borders crowd” doesn’t like the program because it is working.

John Locke  and Jean-Jacques Rousseau were classic philosophers who's work formed the theoretical groundwork of democracy suggested that any government that does not protect the life, liberty, and property of their people, should be overthrown.  In the US' case that means "throw the bums out of office."  

Janet Napolitanto and the DHS are ignoring their obligation to protect our life, liberty and property by regulating who comes into the country through our borders, we need to elect federal officials who will.