I was waiting for something like this to happen. Well, it’s not exactly ICE suing itself. In the technical sense of the process, I’m not sure that’s possible; maybe it is. Let me give a summary about what’s going on.
May I just say first, that ever since Obama’s announcement that he will grant some sort of amnesty to illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, I haven’t heard as much griping and bickering over this as I thought there would be. Unless I’m just not around the right, or wrong, kind of people.
Last week, on Thursday, some “Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents filed a lawsuit against their own agency.” They argued that the Obama administration was hampering their efforts to deport illegal immigrants. This seems to not only be a consequence of Obama’s program, but also a result of a memorandum issued by Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano. Apparently, the Department of Homeland Security doesn’t have the funds to deport all 11 million illegal immigrants that currently reside in the U.S.
As a result, the memorandum she issued ordered immigration officials to focus not on all illegal immigrants, but only on “dangerous illegal immigrants.” The officials who filed the lawsuit say that this order and Obama’s program, doesn’t allow them to carry out their job properly and violates the law.
Of course, each side of the debate has their own pearls of wisdom to add. Since elections are coming up and Mitt Romney is the other Presidential contender, it’s informative for voters to know where he stands. His spokesman says that Obama has “over-stepped” with regards to his new immigration program and that Romney will “forge a long-term solution with Congress instead of relying on Obama’s “stop-gap measure.”
ICE spokesman Ross Feinstein says, in what seems like defense of Napolitano’s order and Obama’s program, that last year, over half of those deported had been previously convicted of a crime. Apparently, this is more convicted criminals being deported than ever before. It seems that he thinks Napolitano’s order is helping the agency to be more effective and Obama’s program “enhances that strategy.”
Deporting 11 million illegal immigrants is a lot of work. I understand why the Department of Homeland Security doesn’t have the manpower or funds to do their job as it was intended for them to do. In my opinion, Napolitano’s order only makes sense. As Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) says, “Deferred action is a major boost to law enforcement who do not have to waste time on honor students and can do the harder work of actually tracking down and deporting criminals.” Agree. Of course, an official order shouldn’t ask agents to violate the law, but I don’t believe it’s as cut and dried as all that.
What do you think of Napolitano’s order and Obama’s program? What are their effects on illegal immigration deportation and do you think they violate the law?
Categories: News
