If there was any lingering doubts on whether DHS and ICE were committed to aggressively enforcing immigration laws at the workplace, ICE’s worksite enforcement operation at Howard Industries resulting in almost 600 arrests should eliminate them. The 600 arrests marks the largest historical arrest total at a single worksite, exceeding the recent record of 400 set at Agriprocessors in Iowa just three month ago.
Barack Obama picks political fight with immigration agents, accusing them of terrorizing illegal immigrants and calling for a “top-to-bottom” review of the policies of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
ICE’s Scheduled Departure program — or any voluntary immigration deportation program — will fail until Congress reforms immigration law to provide some incentive for illegal immigrants to voluntarily participate. As it stands, Congress has created incentives for just the opposite.
In light of the recent controversies provoked by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement more aggressively pursuing its mission with regard to worksite enforcement, this article in the current issue of Business Week is worth reading.
When agents at ICE aren’t being criticized for not being aggressive enough, they’re being attacked for being too aggressive. A columnist on the West Coast attacks ICE as a “do nothing” agency even as politicians on the East Coast are accusing agents of being terrorists and Nazis. What’s wrong with this picture?
The latest criticism of Congressman Luis Gutierrez for his outrageous comparison of ICE agents to Nazis comes from the Anti-Defamation League. In an August 14 letter to Gutierrez, the ADL calls upon the congressman to repudiate his “inappropriate and insensitive” remarks.
The Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA) recently sent an angry letter of protest to presidential aspirant Barack Obama challenging his characterization of ICE agents who enforce immigration law as terrorists. And today, ICE Assistant Secretary Julie Myers sent a letter to Congressman Luis Gutierrez requesting an apology for calling ICE the “Gestapo.”
Fellow Security Debrief blogger David Olive wrote recently about the conflicting messages and mandates that flow from the 86 conflicting and contending homeland security committees in Congress. The latest example of this Hamlet-like system of self-contradiction comes from the House Appropriations Committee, which complains that US Immigration and Enforcement spends too much time on … well, immigration enforcement.
The DHS announcement today awarding REAL ID grants seems to be a positive step in meeting the recommendation of the 9-11 Commission to make identification documents more secure. With the adoption of a “verification hub” approach, where states work with other states to verify identities, DHS is letting the folks who issue driver licenses control their own processes – previously a source of irritation for many Governors.
The ongoing bipolar inconsistency of the U.S. Congress — that institution responsible for drafting our laws on immigration, among other things — was once again on display this past week. Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey kicked it off with a harangue in which he accused federal immigration agents of everything from racism to general rudeness. Why? For enforcing the laws that Congress passed.
Sponsored by:
