Politico
By Seung Min Kim
May 7, 2014
Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson isn’t meeting just with immigration reform proponents during his deportation review.
Johnson
– who is examining the Obama administration’s immigration enforcement
policies – met Wednesday with leaders of several major groups furiously
opposing efforts
to legalize immigrants living in the country illegally.
The
groups that attended the meeting at the Department of Homeland
Security, which lasted about 45 minutes, were Numbers USA, the Center
for Immigration Studies, Federation
for American Immigration Reform, Progressives for Immigration Reform,
and the Eagle Forum, according to a readout of the meeting from DHS.
Johnson
did not give any hints of the kinds of actions his deportations review
would yield nor a timetable for results, according to the attendees, who
are among the biggest
critics of immigration reform efforts in Washington.
Several
attendees said they and Johnson discussed a series of recent actions by
state and local governments – for instance, in Philadelphia, Baltimore
and Oregon – to
no longer comply with immigrant-detention requests from Immigration and
Customs Enforcement.
Two
people who attended said Johnson seemed to indicate some frustration
that these cities and county governments were defying federal policies
on immigration enforcement.
“Our
point was … you need to exercise a little leadership in coming out
against these publicly, condemning them,” said Mark Krikorian, the
executive director of the Center
for Immigration Studies.
The
attendees also said they told Johnson that the administration also has
to include a randomness factor when deciding who among the undocumented
immigrant population
to deport — as an enforcement mechanism. Krikorian likened it to random
tax audits by the Internal Revenue Service or speed traps by local
police.
“We
pushed very hard that there has to be a percentage of the resources
[that] have to be for random deportations,” said Roy Beck, the executive
director of Numbers USA.
That, Krikorian said, “is the way law enforcement works in any other area.”
The
groups requested the meeting, and DHS accepted. Johnson has been making
the rounds with pro-reform organizations and lawmakers for weeks, as he
leads the administration’s
review of its deportation policies to see if it can be administered
more humanely.
“We’re
hoping that it opens an ongoing dialogue,” said Ira Mehlman, a
spokesman for FAIR, whose executive director Julie Kirchner attended the
meeting.
Johnson
also met Wednesday with officials from United We Dream – a nationwide
coalition of immigrant youth – and held a conference call with sheriffs
from around the country
and members of the National Sheriff’s Association.
“As
part of the on-going review process, Secretary Johnson continues to
engage with various stakeholders from all sides of the immigration
debate, which represent a diverse
set of views and opinions in order to assess areas where we can further
align our enforcement policies with our goal of sound law enforcement
practice that prioritizes public safety,” DHS said in a statement.
For more information,go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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