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Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly tempered some of President Donald Trump's recent promises on curbing illegal immigration before a congressional panel on Tuesday, explaining that funding to cities that refuse to cooperate with immigration agents would only be cut on a case-by-case basis.

Trump has threatened to cut large swaths of federal funding to about 300 so-called 'sanctuary cities' in order to pressure them to cooperate in the apprehension and deportation of illegal immigrants.

"If we are specifically giving grants for cooperation on the removal of illegal aliens and the department or city is no longer doing that, it seems irresponsible to me to continue giving them the money, but it will be case by case," Kelly told the House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security.

Trump's executive order on Jan. 25 protected police from funding cuts but left programs like education and healthcare on the table.

Kelly also said he did not expect to meet Trump's hiring goals of 5,000 additional U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents and 10,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents within two years. Trump did not specify a timeline when he called for the hiring in his executive action on Jan. 25.

Kelly said he would not "skip on training and standards" to speed up the pace of hiring.

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Lawmakers grilled Kelly over the controversial immigration ban on refugees and visa holders from seven countries, which is temporarily on hold by a court order.

Kelly defended the order, claiming that the seven countries were known to have inadequate systems for sharing information with the United States on their potentially dangerous citizens.

Reports circulated last week that twelve countries could be added to the travel ban were false, Kelly said, adding that no additional countries were being considered for the temporary travel ban.

Kelly also said that the wall Trump has called for building on the U.S.-Mexico border may include fence and may not cover the whole border. He said he expected to be "well under way" in the construction of some kind of physical barrier along parts of the border within two years.

Kelly previously told Fox News he expected the barrier to be finished within two years.

(Reporting by Julia Edwards Ainsley, additional reporting by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Andrew Hay)

Excerpt from:
Homeland Security Chief Tempers Trump Illegal Immigration Promises - Fox Business

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According to figures compiled by the Los Angeles Times, the total comes after speaking with experts reviewing details of Trumps immigration overhaul and law enforcement agencies who will implement the orders.

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Under Trumps immigration orders, nearly any illegal alien who comes in contact with law enforcement officers can be deported for entering the country illegally, as the LA Times notes.

Many of those eight million illegal aliens hold jobs in the U.S. where they have lied on federal documents, claiming they are eligible to work in the country; acts subject to deportation.

Likewise, smaller cohorts of the population improperly receiving welfare benefits, using fraudulent identity cards, or found driving without a license will qualify for removal as well.

Illegal immigrants who have been accused or convicted of crimes, specifically violent ones, will be prioritized for deportation.

Ronald Mortensen with the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) wrote that the eight million illegal immigrants eligible for deportation would mean Trumps order could deport some 75 percent of the countrys illegal alien population.

Mortensen argues that the perpetuated narrative of illegal aliens paying into the Social Security system through payroll taxes means that they fraudulently obtained Social Security numbers, sometimes even stolen from American citizens.

So, until President Trump issued E.O. 13768, the career politicians that he replaced had consistently put illegal aliens first and deliberately ignored the terrible harm done to the American men, women, and children whose Social Security numbers are stolen, Mortensen wrote in a blog post.

Rather than protecting Americans, career politicians and their business, media, and faith-based allies stood by as the medical records of innocent children were corrupted by illegal aliens using their Social Security numbers, with life-threatening consequences, Mortensen continued. They did nothing as their constituents and neighbors credit records were destroyed by illegal aliens and as the arrest records of illegal aliens were attached to the stolen Social Security numbers of hard-working Americans.

Trumps overhaul is a major contrast to former President Obamas immigration orders, where only about 1.4 million illegal aliens were considered qualified for deportation.

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Eight Million Illegal Aliens Qualify for Deportation Under Trump, Says Report - Breitbart News

Updated: Feb 7, 2017 - 6:58 PM

An illegal immigrant who was living in Brookline has been deported in what could be the conclusion to a long fight to keep him in the country with his family.

Activists said Martin Esquivel-Hernandez was deported back to Mexico on Tuesday morning.

Officials found that he was in the United States illegally when he was pulled over for a traffic violation in March 2016 and did not have legal documentation. A few days later, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested Esquivel-Hernandez for illegally crossing the border.

The incident was the fifth time Esquivel-Hernandez was arrested in the United States for being in the country illegally. He was captured and returned to Mexico four times before coming to Pittsburgh several years ago.

His felony charge was dismissed, but in January, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement determined he would be deported again. An ICE spokesperson said in a statement:

Mr. Esquivel-Hernandez has two misdemeanor convictions, one from 2012 and 2017, and federal authorities removed him to Mexico four times since 2011, with the latest removal taking place in 2012. As a result, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has designated Mr. Esquivel-Hernandez's case as a priority for immigration enforcement.

Esquivel-Hernandez said he came to the United States to escape drug gangs in Mexico City who threatened him for his work in the military.

Esquivel-Hernandezs supporters said he came to the United States to be with his mother, wife and children. Despite his illegal status, activists fought for months to keep him in the country. The rallies continued even after word that he was deported. Tuesday evening.

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