Front line on the border: Any alien can claim to be a “dreamer” in Obama’s new plan
Friday, July 27, 2012 at 10:15AM
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) hosted a press conference on Thursday, calling attention to chaos caused by President Barack Obama’s refusal to fully enforce federal laws related to illegal aliens in the country. Obama’s Dept. of Homeland Security bypassed Congress to announce what amounts to amnesty for those described as “young people who are low enforcement priorities.”
Now any alien can claim to be a "dreamer" and authorities must release him or her.
The DHS initiative was announced in June as Obama’s campaign for reelection struggled to find footing.
At Sessions’ presser, two front line experts made statements. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agent Chris Crane, also president of the National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council representing more than 7,000 agents and personnel, joined Border Patrol agent George McCubbin who is also president of the National Border Patrol Council, the union representing more than 17,000 border agents and personnel.
Crane and McCubbin gave a stark view of the chaos surrounding Obama’s policy on illegals.
Crane said it was “impossible to understand the full scope of the administration’s changes, but what we are seeing so far concerns us greatly.” Crane explained that prosecutorial discretion for “dreamers” is solely based on the individual’s claims.
Crane explained that agents have been ordered to release aliens who claim they attend high school in the U.S. “If they say they have a GED, then let them go.” A GED is the equivalent of a high school diploma.
Crane said there is “no burden” of proof for the alien, and worse, “The alien is not even required to prove that they meet any of the new criteria.”
The criteria were spelled out in a DHS news release after Obama decided to nullify federal laws passed by Congress. The criteria mean nothing because there is no documentation requirement included in the DHS statement.
“At this point,” said Crane, “we don’t even understand why DHS has criteria at all as there’s no requirement or burden to prove anything…”
Crane shared the story of an alien in El Paso (Texas) apprehended by local police and jailed on two charges—assault and bodily injury on a family member and interfering with the victim’s attempts to call for emergency assistance.
“When ICE later arrested the individual for immigration violations,” said Crane, “he attempted to escape—another criminal offense—and one agent was injured.” The injury to the agent placed the alien in violation of another federal law, “assault on a federal agent.”
Crane said, “No criminal charges, no immigration charges, no nothing. ‘He’s a dreamer. Release him.’”
Crane said incidents like the one in El Paso are happening around the nation, and it “leads us to believe the new policies will be ineffective in terms of public safety.”
McCubbin said, “Department of Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano has traveled around the country stating that the border is more secure than it ever has been. We do not believe that to be the case—she conveniently forgot to ask the men and women on the front line.”
Crane’s organization issued a statement after the incident in El Paso and characterized Obama’s new policy as “an extremist approach.”
Critics of Obama’s new policy knew fraud would ensue because even with tough restrictions in the 1986 amnesty bill (IRCA), massive fraud occurred. The Center for Immigration Studies detailed problems with implementation of the bill.
Obama effectively nullified one significant aspect of the IRCA law that “Prohibits implementation of a major change unless the Congress provides funds for such purpose…”
Sessions said:
The Administration claims it has diligently enforced immigration law and that the border is 'more secure than ever.' But those on the front lines know this to be untrue. They see the violence, chaos and lawlessness. They have lost confidence in the leadership of their agencies...
(Filed by Kay B. Day/July 27, 2012)
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