US

ICE Officers Giving Up On Trump Over Catch And Release

Mark RALSTON / AFP

Daily Caller News Foundation logo
Jason Hopkins Immigration and politics reporter
Font Size:
  • The National ICE Council, which endorsed Trump in 2016, sent the president a blistering letter, complaining of catch-and-release procedures and political showmanship in Washington, D.C.
  • Catch-and-release is forcing ICE officers to devote long hours to mundane tasks, keeping them from performing their usual duties of catching illegal aliens and dangerous criminals. 
  • While Democrats have called to defund and abolish ICE, the president has made efforts to curb catch-and-release and reduce other ways foreign nationals enter the country. 

The National ICE Council issued a scathing letter to President Donald Trump regarding the continuation of “wasteful and dangerous” immigration policies at the U.S.-Mexico border.

“We regretfully write to inform you that in the middle of an immigration crisis on the southern border, your Administration is squandering scarce ICE resources and playing political games with our officers,” the National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council wrote in a letter sent to Trump on Monday. “To be direct Mr. President — the rhetoric doesn’t match reality and we hope that this letter shows you the complete and total nonsense that is really taking place under the Trump Administration on the southern border.”

The National ICE Council, which is the union for ICE officers, took specific umbrage with the practice of “catch and release,” a policy that essentially forces immigration officials to release detained foreign national into the interior of the U.S.

“‘Catch and release’ isn’t just happening, it’s in overdrive. Catch and release must continue as ICE doesn’t have sufficient custody space to hold the massive number of family units illegally entering the United States everyday,” the letter continued. “Political games in Washington, D.C., have rendered the United States completely incapable of controlling its southern border.”

The letter, signed by ICE Council President Chris Crane, details the extreme frustration ICE officers are experiencing as they are forced to perform a number of banal job duties — such as opening the doors to release immigrants already captured by Border Patrol agents — that keep them from their stated goals of catching criminals and searching local prisons for illegal aliens.

The complaints also indicate crumbling support from a union that notably stood behind Trump during the last presidential campaign. In what was a first in the union’s history, the National ICE Council gave a presidential endorsement, announcing its support for Trump during the run up to the 2016 presidential election.

“The southern border is facing a legitimate humanitarian and national security crisis with an unprecedented surge in the number of aliens encountered or otherwise attempting illegal crossings,” a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson stated to The Daily Caller News Foundation. “We have repeatedly sounded the alarm with Congress as resources are being stretched across DHS as agencies work to contain this historic surge. ICE and CBP are fully engaged on a coordinated response and continue to update Congress on the challenges faced by our agents and officers at the border.”

Trump, for his part, has made curbing illegal immigration a hallmark of his presidency. The 45th president has declared a national emergency on the U.S.-Mexico border, allowing him to allocate $8 billion in spending for wall construction, and his administration has implemented “extreme vetting” procedures for visa applicants.

The president has also worked to rein in catch-and-release.

Immigration activists rally to protest against the Trump Administration's immigration policy in Washington

Immigration activists carry a sign calling for the abolishment of ICE, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, during rally to protest the Trump Administration’s immigration policy outside the Department of Justice in Washington, U.S., June 30, 2018. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

Trump implemented a “Remain in Mexico” policy in December 2018 that bars foreign nationals who seek asylum at the southern border from entering the U.S., and instead must stay in Mexico while their asylum case makes it way through the immigration courts. While it’s currently only confined to the San Ysidro border in California, the administration is working to expand the policy to more areas. (RELATED: A Huge Reduction In Troops At The Border Could Happen Quickly)

However, much like with the president’s emergency declaration, immigration and other progressive activists are trying to block Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy in court.

The president’s efforts to curb catch-and-release come at a time when the Democratic Party has adopted extremely hostile positions against ICE. A growing number of Democratic lawmakers — including presidential candidates — have called for ICE to be defunded or abolished altogether.

Nevertheless, the National ICE Council says more must be done.

“You don’t like ‘fake news’ and neither do our officers, so instead let’s provide transparency, tell Americans the truth, and stop this nonsense and these wasteful and dangerous policies now,” its letter concluded.

Update: This article has been updated to include a statement from the Department of Homeland Security.

Follow Jason on Twitter

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel