Archive for the ‘Illegal Immigration’ Category

Thinking About How We Allocate Our Immigration Enforcement Resources – Immigration Blog (blog)

It might be useful to step back a minute and think about the various illegal alien subpopulations and consider how we allocate our limited enforcement resources regarding their control.All should be escorted out of the country, of course, but some do us more harm than others.

The table below lists nine such subpopulations (which may overlap), from the obvious class of criminal illegal aliens to a perhaps fanciful category, the illegal alien nuns, and shows how the government allocates money and staff to manage these groups.

A quick glance at the table shows that there is often no connection between the harm done by the subpopulations and the amount of resources aimed at controlling them. America, famously, over-allocated resources to the southern border even before the Wall came to be an expensive symbol of those policies. A wall would be nice, but the needed resources would be better spent digging illegal aliens out of the interior and flying them back to their homelands.

While one group of illegals those at the border gets a lot of attention, the reverse is true with other subpopulations. For example, those who are misusing our income tax system, a particularly bothersome population, get away with billions because IRS does not want to spend a dime to help control illegal immigration, as we have noted before. Let's reduce the request for 5,000 more agents for the Border Patrol and send 1,500 of them to IRS to see to it that we are not paying illegal aliens, through inappropriate use of tax funds, to stay in the States.

A much simpler allocation of resources could be made along the lines of employers paying cash to their illegal alien workers, as opposed to those paying by check and making withholdings; faced with more tips than they can use, ICE should announce that when all else is roughly equal it will raid employers known to pay in cash to avoid tax payments.

I suspect the imposition of such a policy, with a few examples in each part of the country, would make good reading in the restaurant industry's trade papers, for instance.

Now, it is easier to round up illegals at the border than anywhere else; proof of illegality is not a problem as they are usually caught red-handed, sometime minutes after crossing illegally; no families are broken up when they are arrested; andno employers are inconvenienced, which unfortunately is important politically. This is one of the reasons why resources are aimed at this subpopulation.

In contrast is another group of illegal aliens who are much less attractive than the Mexican teenager simply looking for a better job; these are the people, usually women, who are in the second category in the table. They seek citizen or sometimes green card spouses, con them into phony marriages, and split as soon as they can manipulate the immigration process into giving them a green card.

Sometimes they do this by faking abuse charges at their resident spouses, and the Department of Homeland Security, admittedly working with some lopsided language in the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), does next to nothing to prevent this form of fraudulent immigration and this harm against the allegedly abusive spouses. We at CIS get a steady flow of letters telling the husband's side of these stories and reporting in detail how the government does not want to inconvenience itself by hearing the citizen's side of the story. We did a report on this kind of marriage fraud last year.

These cases are hard to prove; it is by definition a "she said, he said" situation, and instead of trying as divorce courts do to solve the problem, DHS just gives up and grants a green card to the alien. If something is to be done in this arena, more resources will be needed.

These resources need not just be people and money, they can be ideas and political will. We have argued, for example, that the K-1 visa, for fiances, is a needless convenience for those seeking marriage fraud green cards, and that the elimination of the visa category would help prevent some of these cases. If two people love each other and want to get married, they can do so in the alien's home country or, if they would rather get married in the States, the alien can come in on a visitor's visa. Only if the visitor's visa is denied and if the citizen will not marry in the alien's nation does the K-1 visa come into play. But terminating that visa would take political will, which seems to be missing.

Our last category, the truly good illegals, may be a pipe dream. But I suspect somewhere among the 12 million or so of them there must be a nun or two without papers, doing good while an illegal; similarly there must be a handful of retired, rich illegals (who did not get that way from the drug trade) who are living in America and spending their money here.

We are and this is the right policy using zero resources to find those rare people.

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Thinking About How We Allocate Our Immigration Enforcement Resources - Immigration Blog (blog)

Trump says he’s considering pardon for Joe Arpaio – Washington Post

Former Maricopa County, Ariz., sheriff Joe Arpaio ignored a judge's order to stop detaining people because he merely suspected them of being undocumented immigrants. (Thomas Johnson/The Washington Post)

President Trump told Fox News he is seriously considering issuing a pardon for former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was convicted last month of criminal contempt for ignoring a judges order to stop detaining people because he merely suspected them of being undocumented immigrants.

Trump told the news outlet during a conversation in Bedminster, N.J., that the pardon could come quickly, perhaps in a matter of days. The news outlet reported the conversation on its website Monday.

I might do it right away, maybe early this week. I am seriously thinking about it, Trump said, according to Fox News. He said Arpaio was a great American patriot who had done a lot in the fight against illegal immigration.

Is there anyone in local law enforcement who has done more to crack down on illegal immigration than Sheriff Joe? Trump said, according to Fox News. He has protected people from crimes and saved lives.He doesnt deserve to be treated this way.

Arpaio, whose extreme stance and tactics on illegal immigration made him a household name, was convicted of criminal contempt last month by a federal judge in Arizona. He faces up to six months in prison at his sentencing, which is scheduled for Oct. 5. Jack Wilenchik, Arpaios attorney, said after Arpaio was convicted that the former sheriff would appeal to get a jury trial, and that the judges conclusion was contrary to what every single witness testified in the case.

[Former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio convicted of criminal contempt]

Joe Arpaio is in this for the long haul, and he will continue his fight to vindicate himself, to prove his innocence, and to protect the public, Wilenchik said.

Wilenchik did not immediately respond to phone and email messages seeking comment Monday. A White House spokeswoman did not immediately answer an email seeking comment. A Justice Department spokeswoman said she was not aware of the presidents remarks but would wait until action was taken before commenting.

Arpaio told Fox News, I would accept the pardon because I am 100 percent not guilty.

Arpaio, 85, the former sheriff of Maricopa County, Ariz., has long been an advocate for Trump and spoke in support of him at the Republican National Convention in July. The men seem to share the same worldview when it comes to illegal immigrants and using harsh tactics against criminals or suspected criminals. Arpaio is well known in part for forcing his inmates to wear pink underwear and sleep outdoors in his Tent City Jail.

Reacting to the prospect that Trump might pardon Arpaio, ACLU Deputy Legal Director Cecillia Wang said, President Trump would be literally pardoning Joe Arpaios flagrant violation of federal court orders that prohibited the illegal detention of Latinos. He would undo a conviction secured by his own career attorneys at the Justice Department. Make no mistake: This would be an officialpresidential endorsement of racism.

The legal saga surrounding Arpaio dates back years. In 2011, as part of a lawsuit, the then-sheriff was enjoined by U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow from detaining people he thought to be illegal immigrants, when they were not charged with any other crimes. Prosecutors alleged that he continued to do so, and last year, the Justice Department decided to pursue a criminal contempt-of-court case against him.

Critics said his policy of detaining people on mere suspicion was racist and illegal, and his refusal to honor a courts order to stop was brazen. Wilenchik has said that the judges order enjoining Arpaio was not clear, and suggested that Arpaio was merely doing what others do routinely: turning over those in the country illegally to the U.S. Border Patrol.

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Trump says he's considering pardon for Joe Arpaio - Washington Post

La. illegal immigrants face skyrocketing deportations, rising uncertainty, under Trump administration – The Advocate

Alberto B. Hernandez, who came to the United States illegally from Toluca, Mexico, has been living the American dream in Louisiana for more than a decade. A taxpaying father of six who owns a successful bricklaying business, he recently built a new house for his family in Prairieville, a community he has called home for several years.

Federal authorities picked Hernandezup years ago and had the opportunity to prosecute and deport him many times. But they gave him a pass, instead requiring he stay out of trouble and renew his work permit on an annual basis.

He held up his end of the bargain, working long hours, including weekends and birthdays, to give his family the sort of prosperity that had eluded him south of the border.

But on a sweltering afternoon last month, Hernandez's world was upended when he reported to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in downtown New Orleans for what he expected to be a routine appointment. Instead of renewing his permit, immigration officials issued Hernandez an ultimatum: sign papers agreeing to leave the country by Oct. 10 or be arrested on the spot.

In a surreal instant, he went from planning his daughter's 15th birthday partyto fearing imminent separation from his family.

"It was a devastating day," Hernandez recalled in an interview. "When we arrived home, I told my kids what had happened. They started to cry."

Hernandez's plight highlights the growing uncertainty that people who came to the U.S. illegallyface under President Donald Trump's administration, which has dramatically stepped up deportation efforts, particularly in cases that do not involve criminal charges.

Immigrants like Hernandez, who essentially had been left alone for years to work and raise their families, are now living in constant worry.

Under Trump, ICE agents have been unshackledfrom the guidelines of former President Barack Obama's administration, which called for them to focus their resources on the most violent of the 11 million people living in the country without permission.

The result has been an increase in immigration-related arrests across the country, and a staggering jump in this region. Deportations also have skyrocketed in Louisiana and the four other states covered by ICE's New Orleans field office:Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee.

In those states, the agency deported 6,665 undocumented immigrants through the first three-quarters of the current fiscal year more than the total of the previous three years combined. Immigration-related arrests and detainer requests at local jails have jumped by a similar margin, according to statistics released to The Advocate by federal immigration officials.

In East Baton Rouge Parish, for instance, ICE haslodged 40 detainers on inmates booked into the jail on counts unrelated to immigration in 2017 up from 27 all of last year, according to the Sheriff's Office.

An ICE detainer is a request that jail officials hold someone due for release an additional 48 hours to give ICE more time to decide whether to take that person into federal custody so they can be deported.

While deportations are also on the rise nationally, the increases are not nearly as pronounced elsewhere as in this region. The reasons for the disparity are unclear.

A proposed law to ban so-called sanctuary cities in Louisiana, branded as racially discrimin

"Certainly the evidence is that they're locking people up," said Susan Long, the co-director and co-founder of TRAC Immigration, a nonprofit group that documents immigration cases in the U.S.

Trump, who made immigration a central focus of his campaign and vowed to build a wall along the Mexican border, issued anexecutive orderwithin days of taking office that drastically expanded whom the government deems a priority for deportation, while also threatening to strip federal funding from so-called "sanctuary cities" that don't cooperate with ICE.

The Department of Homeland Security later issued a memorandum explaining that no one in the country illegally is exempt from enforcement.

"All of those in violation of the immigration laws may be subject to immigration arrest, detention and, if found removable by final order, removal from the United States," the memo stated.

One of the most significant shifts has been the spike in immigration arrests of people not facing criminal charges. Through the first 100 days of the Trump administration, fewer than half of the approximately 1,400 arrests made by agents assigned to ICE's New Orleans field office involved criminal charges.

"There is no prioritization," said Michael W. Gahagan, a New Orleans immigration attorney. "Everybody is a priority. It's, 'If we get you, we get you.' "

Gahagan and his counterparts across the state said they've seen a flood of deportation cases, swelling court dockets that are being managed by additional judges who recently have been brought on in New Orleans and Jena to handle the glut of new immigration proceedings.

Paul "Woody" Scott, a Baton Rouge attorney who represents Hernandez, described the current atmosphere as "a free-for-all."

"Under Obama, it was all about priorities," Scott said. "They prioritized people who had criminal records or were recent arrivals. Now it's whoever they can get their hands on."

Last month, ICE arrested 83 people in New Orleans, Memphis and Nashville as part of a nationwide crackdown called "Operation Border Guardian/Border Resolve," which the agency said targeted immigrants "who entered the country as unaccompanied alien children and family units." The authorities described 64 of those arrested as "non-criminal" and acknowledged that many of them were picked up while agents were searching for other targets.

Thomas Homan, the acting ICE director, warned "anyone considering making the dangerous and unlawful journey to the United States" to reconsider. "Ultimately, if you have no basis to remain the United States, you will be identified, apprehended and returned to your home country," he said in a statement.

Trump's approach has been welcomed by conservative lawmakers in Louisiana, who have long called for a federal government crackdown. The new guidelines have boosted morale among federal immigration agents, whose union issued a statement saying the changes would help "save thousands of lives and billions of dollars" while making the country safer.

But the rapidly shifting landscape has sent a shudder of fear through local Hispanic communities in places like Kenner, which has the highest percentage of Latino residents of any local community and where local authorities work closely with federal immigration officials.

CINCINNATI (AP) A Mexican mother of four U.S.-born children living in southwest Ohio has b

Some advocates say that cooperation has had a chilling effect when it comes to the reporting of crimes against immigrants. In the New Orleans metro area, there were some 30,000 immigrants who came here illegally as of 2014,according to an estimatereleased earlier this year by the Pew Research Center.

"We're seeing people who were themselves victims of crimes or were in a traffic accident, maybe rear-ended, and then arrested by Kenner police and handed over to ICE," said Chloe Sigal, an organizer with the Congress of Day Laborers. "Some people don't even want to go out and buy groceries. People are afraid to leave their children at the bus stop."

Thomas Byrd, an ICE spokesman, said in an email that "there are mechanisms in place to protect victims and witnesses of crimes."

"I'm not aware of victims of traffic accidents being arrested and removed by ICE," he said.

The Kenner Police Department did not respond to requests for comment.

The statistics provided by ICE are not broken down by city or even by state, so it's unclear where the increases have been most pronounced. Byrd said he could provide numbers only for the entire New Orleans field office, which covers five states.

The numbers likely would be even higher in New Orleans if it weren't for the refusal of the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office to honor immigration detainers lodged by ICE, except in cases involving those facing serious felony charges. The New Orleans Police Department, under the terms of a federal consent decree, also has limited its cooperation with immigration officials; it specifically forbids officers from inquiring about the immigration status of suspects, victims and witnesses.

Those policies together have prompted critics to label New Orleans a "sanctuary city," a label Mayor Mitch Landrieu has vigorously disputed.

ICE's current approach marks a drastic change from the guidelines the agency followed during the Obama administration, which initially took an aggressive stance toward deportations but later, in an about-face, largely called for ICE to leave alone the millions of immigrants who lack legal permission to live in the U.S. but have nevertheless found work here and have not committed any crimes.

Take Ramon, for example, an immigrant living in Jefferson Parish who came to the United States illegally 13 years ago to earn money for his family.

A Honduran national who asked that his last name not be printed, Ramon, who claims he has no criminal history, lives a reclusive life in Metairie when he's not painting houses. He doesn't go out drinking or partying. Paying for the education of his two sons, who are both in college in Honduras, is his sole focus.

Three years ago, during the Obama administration, ICE detained Ramon three times in just two months. He was scared, he said, but immigration officials ran his fingerprints and let him go. He was not a priority for deportation in those days and felt relatively safe. But that's changed in recent months. Three of his friends were deported recently, he said, though he's unsure whether they committed a crime or were expelled solely because they were here illegally.

"These days, I'd say it's a toss-up," he said. "You wake up with that fear every day. Only God can protect you from that."

Ramon and several other immigrants said they feel comfortable in Metairie, but they are increasingly wary in Kenner, where they perceive immigration enforcement to be more aggressive at the local level.

But it's not just Kenner that has seen an influx of immigration-related arrests. Sigal, the Congress of Day Laborers organizer, said her organization has heard reports of ICE agents staking out the Ideal market on Hessmer Avenue in Metairie, which is frequented by Latino shoppers.

"They don't have free rein to profile people and stalk them without probable cause, and unfortunately, that's what we're seeing," Sigal said. "They're acting without any regard for children's welfare or humanitarian factors."

Hernandez, the Prairieville bricklayer, has six children, two of whom suffer from severe medical conditions. And though he came to America illegally, he has paid federal income tax since 2005 and employed up to 10 people at Hernandez Brick Layer LLC.

Those were among the factors that prompted federal prosecutors and immigration officials to allow him to remain after he was arrested in 2014.

At that time, someone had told local authorities that"a previously deported alien from Mexico was working as a self-employed bricklayer and living" in Prairieville, according to court records. Hernandez suspects a jealous neighbor implicated him.

Hernandez was granted a "stay of removal" and placed under an order of supervision that allowed him to obtain a work permit and a driver's license but required him to check in with immigration officials once a year.

Last month, he reported to the ICE office on Poydras Street in New Orleans expecting to renew his permit. "It was more like a formality, really," he recalled. "But when I got there, they told me that I had to sign that paper or theyd detain me right there."

Hernandez asked to speak to his lawyer, a request that was denied. Hernandez reluctantly complied, agreeing to leave the U.S. voluntarily by Oct. 10 or be forcefully removed.

In 1997, when he left his hometown in Mexico to find a better life, Toluca was relatively quiet. But that's changed in the time he's been in the United States. Now that community, about 40 miles west of Mexico City, is beset by violence, robberies and kidnappings, Hernandez said. He had been thinking about returning to Mexico for his retirement, but not to Toluca.

Hernandez said he can't understand the hostility many Americans feel toward immigrants like him.

"We come here to live in peace and work," he said. "We are not the criminals as many are depicting us. We're just here working and helping this country. That's all."

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La. illegal immigrants face skyrocketing deportations, rising uncertainty, under Trump administration - The Advocate

Sasse Presses ICE for Answers on Illegal Immigrant Charged in Deadly Wreck – PJ Media

WASHINGTON Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) last week pressed Immigration and Customs Enforcement for answers concerning Nemias Garcia-Velasco, an illegal immigrant who was deported multiple times before being accused of killing one person and injuring another earlier this summer while driving under the influence in Nebraska.

Garcia-Velasco, whose blood alcohol content was later recorded at more than three times the legal limit, was traveling over 100 mph on Interstate 80 on July 5 when he lost control of his van. A man was killed and a 16-year-old boy injured in the afternoon fiery crash near the Interstate 680 split in Omaha, one of Nebraskas busiest junctures. The Douglas County Attorneys Office has charged Garcia-Velasco, a Mexico native, with motor vehicle homicide. Court filings show that Garcia-Velasco had been deported seven times -- five times through voluntary return in 2005 and twice more in 2009 and 2011.

Sasse, in an Aug. 3 letter to ICE officials, also drew attention to Eswin Mejia, an illegal immigrant who was allegedly street racing in a pickup truck while intoxicated in January 2016 when he rammed into the back of 21-year-old Sarah Roots vehicle in Omaha. Root, who had graduated from Bellevue University earlier that day, died at the hospital after suffering a severed spinal cord and fractured skull. According to Sasse, Omaha Police requested that the ICE officials apprehend Mejia, who had prior offenses including a missed court date. ICE did not follow through on the request, and Mejia has since fled. Because he remains at large, Sasse said that the Root family has been deprived of justice.

We cannot let these tragedies become the new normal, Sasse said in a statement. The revolving door for dangerous illegal aliens needs to stop. ICE has to step up, answer Nebraskans questions, and fix this broken enforcement system.

Sasse requested details from ICE about Garcia-Velascos various return trips to Mexico, his criminal past, federal communications with him and any information on attempts to apprehend the individual. The Nebraska lawmaker also asked for details about the priority ICE gave Garcia-Velasco due to his criminal history.

Lawmakers around the country have pointed to a multitude of stories similar to the cases of Garcia-Velasco and Mejia, in which illegal activity by a person in the country illegally has resulted in the death of an American citizen. In July, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) welcomed the launch of Advocates for Victims of Alien Crime, an advocacy group whose family members have died in incidents involving illegal immigrants.

Immigration groups and advocates, while recognizing the tragedy of the events, have pointed to statistics that show legal and illegal immigrants arent any more likely to commit these crimes than the general U.S. population. Statistics from the Cato Institute earlier this year revealed that both documented and undocumented immigrants are incarcerated at rates lower than native citizens.

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Sasse Presses ICE for Answers on Illegal Immigrant Charged in Deadly Wreck - PJ Media

Some Maryland Cities Think It’s Okay to Let Illegal Immigrants Vote – National Review

College Park, Md., has proposed giving illegal immigrants the right to vote in municipal elections. A recently drafted charter resolution would, if approved, remove U.S. citizenship as a requirement for voting in local elections. College Park would be the largest municipality in Maryland to adopt such a law; ten other towns and cities in Prince George and Montgomery Counties already allow illegal aliens to vote in local elections. The Baltimore Sun reports that the trend is picking up steam in liberal enclaves in the wake of Trumps election.

According to the College Park resolution, the Mayor and Council have determined that it is in the public interest to change the qualifications for voting. They propose creating a supplemental voter registration list for non-United States citizen voters who meet the following criteria: at least 18 years of age; does not claim voting residence or the right to vote in another jurisdiction; is not a convicted felon currently serving prison time; is not under guardianship for mental disability; and has not been convicted for buying or selling votes.

While illegal aliens would still be ineligible to vote in statewide and national elections, this opens the door to taking the next step and allowing people who have pledged no allegiance to the United States to vote for the president and members of Congress. Unsurprisingly, such measures are generally unpopular. According to a Rasmussen poll conducted last year regarding a proposal made by New York City to allow illegal immigrants to vote for mayor and city officials, seventy-one percent (71%) of Likely U.S. Voters oppose letting illegal immigrants vote for local officials in the area where they live . . . 19% favor such a proposal, while 10% are undecided. Additionally, sixty-seven percent (67%) say illegal immigrants should not be allowed to vote even if they can prove that they live in this country and pay taxes. Thats up from 60% when Rasmussen Reports first asked this question in May of [2015]. Twenty-six percent (26%) still believe tax-paying illegal immigrants should be permitted to vote, down from 35%.

This sentiment is understandable.Undocumented people broke American laws when they chose to ignore immigration policies and enter the United States without authorization to do so.People wait for years to come to this country legally and are awarded with the right to vote if they then go through the process of becoming citizens. We undermine the value of that when we give the ability to vote to anyone who wants it.

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Some Maryland Cities Think It's Okay to Let Illegal Immigrants Vote - National Review