Three Republican Senators and the presidents of two major law enforcement unions are expected to band together at a Thursday press conference to call out what they consider President Barack Obama’s questionable immigration and border security policies.
Specifically, a source familiar with the presser told The Daily Caller, they’ll likely focus on a secret internal U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) memo that – if eventually implemented into policy – would allow its agents to catch and release “low priority” illegal immigrants.
The document, uncovered by House Judiciary Committee chairman Rep. Lamar Smith and first reported by the Washington Times, shows the CBP and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are seriously considering implementing a policy that would allow its agents to use “prosecutorial discretion” to decide which people to prosecute and which ones to just let go.
According to the document, a copy of which has been obtained by The Daily Caller, the criteria agents would use to determine whether to prosecute or release illegal immigrants include:
- “the alien’s immigration and criminal history”
- “claims of family, business or property ownership, ties to the community and educational background”
- “likelihood that the alien will be granted temporary or permanent status or other relief from removal”
- “an alien’s age and health (both physical and mental), as well as the age and health (both physical and mental) of alien’s immediate relatives”
- “whether the alien is in the U.S. military or is the dependent of such a service member”
- “and the alien’s length or presence in the United States and the circumstances of his/her arrival in the United States.”
This policy, if eventually implemented, would take the de facto amnesty for illegal immigrants aged 15 to 30 that President Barack Obama and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced in June a step further. It would apply to almost all illegal immigrants, instead of just young ones, the same “prosecutorial discretion” – selective enforcement of the law – behind Obama’s administrative DREAM Act from June.
That’s why on Thursday, Sens. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, David Vitter of Louisiana and Chuck Grassley of Iowa will hold a press conference criticizing it. Joining them will be George McCubbin, the president of the AFL-CIO backed National Border Patrol Council, and Chris Crane, the president of the American Federal of Government Employees backed National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council.
