Los Angeles Times (Opinion)
By John Sandweg
March 27, 2014
President
Obama recently directed Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson to
examine U.S. immigration enforcement policies to see how the department
can "conduct enforcement
more humanely within the confines of the law."
The
answer to the president's directive is surprisingly simple: Homeland
Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement division, known as ICE,
should eliminate "non-criminal
re-entrants and immigration fugitives" as a priority category for
deportation.
Current
ICE policy prioritizes these individuals solely because they have
previously been caught up in our immigration system, not because they
represent a criminal threat.
Taking them off the priority list would dramatically advance the
president's goal of a more humane enforcement system and would enhance
public safety and border security.
Over
the last five years, the Obama administration has transformed our
nation's immigration enforcement system, turning it into a system that
emphasizes removing criminals
and keeping the border secure. In 2010, civil immigration enforcement
priorities were established to direct ICE officers and agents to focus
their efforts accordingly. Since then, more than 80% of the people the
agency has apprehended in the interior United
States and deported have been convicted criminals.
However,
official agency policy also continues to direct ICE officers and agents
to investigate, arrest and deport those who unlawfully reentered the
United States after
having been previously deported, and those who have absconded from
immigration court proceedings, regardless of their criminal history or
how long they have lived, worked or raised families in the United
States. As a result, each year, tens of thousands of
people are treated as enforcement priorities based on their immigration
history alone.
Many
of these people have been in the United States for a decade or more.
They often have spouses who are U.S. citizens and have never been
convicted of a criminal offense.
Frequently, they were deported years earlier and returned to this
country to reunite with their families. As a result, focusing ICE's
effort on them disproportionately separates parents and children,
breadwinners from families, spouse from spouse.
To
be sure, those who repeatedly cross our borders illegally or abscond
from the immigration court bear culpability. However, making this
population a priority detracts
from ICE's ability to track down and arrest the increasing number of
much more serious public safety threats the agency identifies.
All in all, it makes little sense to use limited enforcement resources in this way.
Contrary
to what some might think, the majority of ICE agents and officers would
not object to removing "non-criminal re-entrants and immigration
fugitives" from their
caseloads. Charged with enforcing a broken set of laws and
administering a dysfunctional enforcement system, these hardworking and
dedicated law enforcement officers often unfairly bear the brunt of the
frustrations and absurdities that result from Congress'
failure to reform our immigration laws. These officers know where their
work will have the greatest impact.
When
I was ICE's acting director, I had the privilege of discussing the
agency's enforcement priorities with officers and agents across the
country. I repeatedly heard
these men and women express their support for clear policies that would
focus their efforts on the most serious offenders and offenses.
The
president was right to suggest a review of ICE's enforcement
priorities. Much of the groundwork for the change I'm suggesting has
already been laid, and this policy
shift could be implemented immediately. It will not solve all of the
challenges facing our broken immigration system, but until Congress
acts, it can fulfill the president's call for a more humane system and
make the country safer.
John
Sandweg, acting director of ICE from August 2013 to February, also
served as acting general counsel in the Department of Homeland Security.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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