Department of Homeland Security
Restrictionist GOP Members Rely on Scare Tactics in Hearing on Prosecutorial Discretion
The luster may be wearing off Republican attacks on DHS’s prosecutorial discretion policies. Efforts to paint the prioritization of cases as “backdoor amnesty” didn’t seem to go anywhere in yesterday’s hearing on immigration enforcement in the Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement. ICE Director John Morton defended the prosecutorial discretion guidance he issued earlier this year as “trying to make good calls and good judgments” within a series of tough choices and finite resources. Members opposed to the Administration’s policies had a hard time rebutting the resource point, deciding instead to rely on scare tactics and hyperbolic comparisons to attack the guidance. Read More
Secretary Napolitano Acknowledges “Messaging Problem,” Dismisses Criticism of Key Enforcement Programs
In a speech at American University yesterday, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano complained that she was tired of criticism from the left and the right that accuse DHS of both blindly deporting undocumented immigrants and participating in attempts at amnesty through the use of prosecutorial discretion. Secretary Napolitano argued that both cannot be true, but that these conflicting criticisms signify the need for a “reality check” on the way we talk about immigration enforcement. Given the highly political attacks made on the Obama administration’s enforcement strategies in recent months—especially those made by restrictionist Rep. Lamar Smith—many are sympathetic to the need for a reality check. But that check must also include an honest look at all of DHS’s programs, even the problematic ones. Read More
DHS Needs to Target Violent Drug Cartels, Not Immigrants Trying to Reunite with Families
Times have changed along the U.S.-Mexico border. In just a few short years, Mexican drug cartels have taken over the people-smuggling business. Although U.S. border walls and fences have proliferated, they have done nothing to prevent the cartels from moving drugs, human beings, guns, and money back and forth across the border. The combination of heightened U.S. border enforcement and cartel violence has made crossing the border increasingly dangerous. Yet large numbers of unauthorized immigrants who were previously deported from the United States continue to risk their lives by crossing the border in order to reunite with their U.S. families. The Obama Administration’s current enforcement policies treat these family-bound migrants like hardened criminals, while failing to address the real threat to security—the cartels. Read More
Next Stop, Napolitano: DHS Committee Approves Task Force Recommendations on Secure Communities
Last week, a task force created to study DHS’ controversial “Secure Communities” initiative issued a report listing a series of recommendations to improve the program. Among other proposals, the task force recommended that federal authorities standardize the use of prosecutorial discretion around the country, make the program more transparent, and decline to initiate deportation proceedings against immigrants who have not been convicted of serious crimes or otherwise pose a threat to public safety. As of yesterday, those recommendations are one step closer actual implementation as the Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC) voted to approve the task force’s findings and submit them for further consideration to DHS leadership, including Secretary Janet Napolitano. While HSAC agreed (almost) unanimously to submit the recommendations to DHS, the committee was careful to characterize the findings as a good first step rather than a cure to problems with Secure Communities. Read More
Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Huddled Masses…But Don’t Let Them Work?
Every year, thousands of people flee persecution in their home countries and seek safe haven in the United States. Many of them spend their entire savings on the journey, travel under life-threatening conditions, and arrive on our shores with not much more than the clothes on their backs. Those who are lucky find long-lost relatives, compatriots, or religious communities who help them get back on their feet. Then they begin the process of applying for asylum, which often takes years. Fortunately, our laws allow asylum seekers to obtain work authorization if their cases are not decided within 180 days. The 180 days, however, are counted by an “asylum clock,” which is too often stopped for unwarranted reasons. Read More
Task Force Submits Recommendations on DHS’s Flawed Secure Communities Program
Anyone following the saga surrounding Secure Communities—DHS’s flawed enforcement program that runs fingerprints through federal databases—can tell you that the program has been rife with controversy since its inception in 2008. As DHS began to stray from the program’s original focus on criminal aliens—state and city leaders, police chiefs, immigration advocates, and congressional members blasted the agency for casting too broad a net and for its dubious implementation process. After tensions reached a boiling point in June, ICE Director John Morton created a 20-member task force to address growing concerns. This week, that task force submitted its final recommendations in a report to the Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC)—recommendations that some former task force members say don’t go far enough. Read More
Illinois County “Just Says No” to Costly Immigration Detainers
As public debate over Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) controversial enforcement policies continues, a county in Illinois recently voted against using one tool in ICE’s enforcement arsenal—immigration detainers. Detainers are requests (not commands) from ICE to local law enforcement agencies that ask local agencies to notify ICE prior to releasing an individual from custody. ICE issues detainers—which allow local agencies to retain individuals for 48 hours after scheduled release—so that they can determine whether individuals are subject to deportation and take them into federal custody. Last week, however, the Cook County Board of Commissioners voted 10-5 against honoring the voluntary immigration detainers, citing the prohibitive cost of detaining individuals. Read More
Ten Years After 9/11, Is the U.S. Deporting Those Who Threaten to Do Us Harm?
This past weekend, the U.S. commemorated the ten-year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Life and travel in the U.S. has changed in some significant ways over the past decade, and many observers have noted that immigration policy, in particular, has been deeply affected. The fact that the terrorists were foreign nationals that arrived legally in the U.S. on visas prompted action, including the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, stepped up enforcement along the border, additional scrutiny for visa applicants, and increased partnerships with state and local law enforcement agencies. But ten years later, is the U.S. actually deporting those who threaten to do us harm? Read More
Experts Challenge Conventional Wisdom on Border Security
No one should be shocked by this election season’s default response to immigration questions, “We must secure the border." It's the same tired sound bite as last election cycle. While border security might make for an easy rhetorical punching bag, it seems to be an area the most vocal politicians know the least about and a topic they care little about fixing. If politicians were serious about securing the border, they would be too busy bringing down drug cartels to blame undocumented immigrants for all of our border woes—or so say former Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard and anthropologist Josiah Heyman in papers released this week. Read More
U.S. Sentencing Commission Data Reveals Dysfunction of U.S. Immigration System
Federal courts and prisons are being overwhelmed by the broken U.S. immigration system. That is one of the central points to emerge from data contained in a new report from the U.S. Sentencing Commission. It is also a point that is easily missed if you are looking at the wrong numbers. For instance, the numbers of Latinos and non-U.S. citizens who are sent to federal prison are startling. But even more startling is how many of them are going to federal prison because of non-violent immigration offenses. In defiance of common sense, they may be in federal prison even though they have not committed a violent crime or even a property crime. Their only crime might be entering the country without permission. Read More
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No one should face the immigration system alone
