A top union official for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers said Thursday that President Barack Obama’s administration has ordered ICE agents to blindly — and without any evidence — believe illegal immigrants if they claim they qualify for Obama’s administrative DREAM Act.
Chris Crane, president of the National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council, explained at a press conference on Capitol Hill Thursday afternoon how the new selective immigration law enforcement policy Obama announced during a White House Rose Garden speech in June is affecting the officers he represents.
“As we still wait on detailed guidance from the administration, it’s impossible to understand the full scope of the administration’s changes, but what we’ve seen so far concerns us greatly,” Crane, said. “As one example, prosecutorial discretion for DREAMers is solely based on the individual’s claims. Our orders are: If an alien says they went to high school, then let them go. If they say they have a GED, then let them go.”
“Officers have been told that there is no burden for the alien to prove anything,” he continued. “Even with the greatly relaxed policies, the alien is not required to prove that they meet any of the new criteria.”
ICE officers are often called in after local and state law enforcement officials arrest a person and find that he or she is an illegal immigrant. ICE officers also conduct their own investigations and detain suspected illegal immigrants independent of other law enforcement. Normally, if the immigrant is found to be in the country illegally, ICE would bring federal charges against him, possibly leading to deportation.
Under the new orders, however, illegals can escape federal charges simply by claiming — whether it’s the truth or not — that they meet the DREAM Act rule’s requirements issued by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Crane did not specify who has given his officers these new orders.
The new directive would contradict Homeland Security’s own words in announcing the policy, which said that “only those individuals who can prove through verifiable documentation that they meet these criteria will be eligible for deferred action.
Homeland Security announced in June that it will not go after illegals who came to the U.S. under the age of 16 and are not more than 30 years old; have lived in the U.S. for five straight years; are currently in school or have graduated high school, obtained a GED or been honorably discharged from the military; have not been convicted of a felony or significant misdemeanor and are not a threat to public safety.
“At this point, we don’t understand why DHS even has criteria at all as there is no requirement or burden to prove anything on the part of the alien,” Crane added. “We believe significant numbers of aliens who are not DREAMers are taking advantage of this practice to avoid arrest.”
“The lawlessness must end,” Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions, whose office organized the presser, said.
“They’ve handcuffed and muffled those charged with protecting the public safety and the integrity of our borders,” Sessions said. “Such action has not only weakened our security but our democracy. All Americans, immigrant and native born, will have a better future if our nation remains unique in the world for its special reverence for the rule of law and fairness in our immigration system.”
George McCubbin, the president of the AFL-CIO-backed National Border Patrol Council, said Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano’s claim that the border is more secure than ever are downright untrue.
“She conveniently forgot to ask the men and women on the front line if indeed that were true, but rather she relied on the information and statistic provided to her by those in positions of interest of having her reflect whatever position the administration wants her to reflect — in this case, that’s a safe and secure border,” McCubbin said. “When you surround yourself with people who always say ‘yes,’ you will get the answer you are seeking.”
McCubben hasn’t yet gone to Department of Homeland Security leadership with his concerns about Obama’s new administrative DREAM Act program yet because he and the 17,000 agents he represents still have no clue what they’re supposed to do and what they’re not supposed to do. “I’m still waiting to get instructions from our own agency,” he said in response to a question from The Daily Caller. “Actually, our own agency was caught off guard when this came out.”
Crane said efforts to get a fair hearing with Napolitano, ICE Director John Morton or other administration officials have been futile.
“We’ve spent the last three-and-a-half years trying to work with this administration from Director Morton to Secretary Napolitano, who won’t meet with us,” Crane said. “We’ve actually been to the White House and tried to talk to those folks — and, basically, they don’t want to hear our concerns. They don’t want to work with us at all.”
“The only groups that they will work with are the NGOs, the immigrant advocacy groups,” Crane said. “Whether it’s the security protocols for our detention centers or our law enforcement practices out in the field, those are being driven by wish lists from immigrant advocacy groups with no input from law enforcement officers in the field.”
Grassley, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the policy is nothing more than a political stunt by Obama to deliver on a campaign promise he has thus far failed to fulfill.
“The president campaigns in 2008 that, in the first year, he’s going to have immigration issues solved,” Grassley said. “At this point, after three-and-a-half years, we have not seen any bill whatsoever. So, then as is a core pattern in this administration, you got to blame somebody else, so it [the administration] comes up with this statement: ‘if Congress won’t, I will.'”