Do-It-Yourself Deportation

[LilOlLady]

Do-It-Yourself Deportation
By ANTONIO ALARCÓN
February 1, 2012

ONE of my happiest childhood memories is of my parents at my First Communion. But that’s because most of my memories from that time are of their being absent. They weren’t there for my elementary school graduation, or for parent-teacher conferences.

From the time I was just a baby in Mexico, I lived with my grandparents while my parents traveled to other Mexican states to find work. I was 6 in 2000 when they left for the United States. And it took five years before they had steady jobs and were able to send for me. We’ve been together in this country ever since, working to build a life. Now I am 17 and a senior in high school in New York City. But my parents have left again, this time to return to Mexico.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/02/opinion/do-it-yourself-deportation.html?ref=illegalimmigrants



Illegal do separate families.

 

[waltky]

Outrageous!...

Federal Appeals Court 'Ignores Rule of Law,' Defers to White House on Deportation Cases
March 2, 2012 – Does the Obama administration intend to enforce the nation’s immigration laws or not? Two Republicans are asking that question, after a federal appeals court halted the deportation of five suspected illegal aliens on Monday, asking the Obama administration whether it plans to stop the deportations.

In a 2-1 ruling, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals set a March 19 deadline for the Obama administration to explain whether it intends to use “prosecutorial discretion” to prevent the aliens’ removal. The five cases are on hold in the meantime. On Thursday, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas,) chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Utah), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the Obama administration must make it clear to the court that the administration will enforce immigration laws, including the deportation of illegal and criminal immigrants who lose their cases in the federal court.

In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Eric Holder on Thursday, Smith and Grassley wrote: “In responding to the Ninth Circuit’s question, the administration will be required to reveal whether it intends to manipulate our legal system and waste taxpayer dollars, as part of its efforts to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants. “Your response to the Ninth Circuit’s order must clearly and unequivocally indicate that the government will enforce the immigration laws, including promptly deporting all removable aliens who lose their cases in the federal courts of appeals,” the lawmakers wrote.

In its ruling, the appeals court instructed the Obama administration “to advise the court by March 19, 2012, whether the government intends to exercise prosecutorial discretion in this case” – and if so, how that would affect “any action to be taken by this court.” John Morton, the head of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, directed ICE officials last June to use “discretion” in deciding whether to detain or deport illegal immigrants. The intention is to kick out the worst offenders and release the all the others – specifically victims of domestic violence and other crimes; witnesses to crimes; or illegal aliens who are charged with minor traffic violations.

In their letter, the Republican lawmakers said they are “seriously concerned” that the court, in placing the deportations on hold, “ignores the rule of law and confounds constitutional principles, and we would like to know who how you plan to respond to the Court’s actions,” they added. And if the Obama administration, in its response to the court, indicates that illegal and other removable aliens will be granted amnesty – “then it must explain to the American people what that answer means for the integrity of our legal system and why their tax dollars are being spent on prosecutions that the Obama administration has no intention of enforcing with deportation.”

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77 Percent of Illegals Caught on Mexican Border Were Not Prosecuted
February 29, 2012 – About 77 percent of the 327,577 illegal aliens caught along the Mexican border by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) during fiscal 2011 were not prosecuted, according to government data analyzed by the office of Rep. John Culberson.

The Texas Republican, whose district includes parts of Houston, submitted a document containing the data for the record at a Wednesday hearing of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security. The hearing focused on the budget for CBP. Culberson gave CNSNews.com a copy of the document, which contains prosecution rate figures for illegal aliens apprehended by CBP between FY2007 and FY2011.

According to figures made public by CBP, 327,577 illegal aliens were caught along the southwest border during fiscal year 2011 (Oct. 1, 2010 thru Sept. 30, 2011). Of those 327,577, only 74,975 (about 22.9 percent) were prosecuted, according to Justice Department data obtained by Culberson, while 252,602 (77.1 percent) were not prosecuted. Culberson said during the hearing that those who were not prosecuted were “home in time for dinner.”

The Texas congressman said the prosecution numbers came from U.S. Attorney offices along the southwest border. The Department of Justice (DOJ), which oversees the U.S. Attorneys, does not publicize the data on prosecutions of aliens arrested by CBP, but Culberson said during the hearing that his office verified the figures with both DOJ and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees CBP.

He also provided a copy of the document to U.S. Border Patrol chief Michael Fisher, who testified at the hearing. Fisher did not dispute the accuracy of the data. Border Patrol is a component of CBP. The prosecution rate was higher in FY2011 than in the previous fiscal year, when of 447,731 aliens taken into custody, only 16.4 percent (73,263) were prosecuted, leaving 374,468 who did not face any legal repercussions.

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