Senator Leads on Letter to Napolitano on Criminal Alien Dismissals
Texas Insider Report: WASHINTON D.C. Upon learning that Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials are dismissing pending removal proceedings in record numbers including proceedings against some criminal aliens Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) led a group of Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans in sending a letter (
see below) to U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano demanding detailed information about the dismissals.
Senate Judiciary Republicans also asked how much funding DHS requires to ensure that it continues to enforce laws against all criminal aliens.
According to recent news reports immigration judges have dismissed a significant number of cases against criminal aliens in Houston pursuant to a recent policy change by
ICE Director John T. Morton.
The policy change directs ICE attorneys to review pending cases and seek dismissal if the cases do not involve aliens convicted of felonies or two or more misdemeanors.
In Houston the new policy has resulted in an increase in dismissals of more than 700 percent up from 27 dismissals in July 2010 to 217 in August. Although the reports focus on Houston immigration courts the implications of the new policy change are widespread.
The new immigration policy affects removal proceedings against criminal aliens nationwide and essentially discourages DHS officers from initiating any new removal proceedings for some criminal aliens.
The full text of the letter to Secretary Napolitano is below:
October 21 2010
The Honorable Janet Napolitano
Secretary
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Nebraska Avenue Complex
245 Murray Lane Mailstop 0150
Washington DC 20528-0150
Dear Secretary Napolitano:
Recently media reports have revealed that pending removal proceedings are being dismissed in record numbers. That sharp increase in dismissals is the result of a directive from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John T. Morton to all ICE attorneys to review pending cases and seek dismissal if the cases do not involve Level I offenders (aliens convicted of aggravated felonies or two or more felonies). Specifically ICE attorneys are directed to seek dismissal of cases involving Level II and Level III criminal aliens so long as the aliens have no felony convictions and no more than two misdemeanors. As we understand it cases involving aliens with misdemeanors involving domestic violence sexual crimes or driving while intoxicated would not be dropped.
Though the reports focused only on cases pending before Houston immigration judges our understanding is that the ICE directive applies nationwide. Numerous criminal aliens are being released into society and are having proceedings terminated simply because ICE has decided that such cases do not fit within the Departments chosen enforcement priorities.
The ICE directive along with other recently announced detention and removal policies raises serious questions about your Departments commitment to enforce the immigration laws. It appears that your Department is enforcing the law based on criteria it arbitrarily chose with complete disregard for the enforcement laws created by Congress. The repercussions of this decision extend beyond removal proceedings because it discourages officers from even initiating new removal proceedings if they believe the case ultimately will be dismissed based on the new directive.
Even more disturbing is the fact that your Department has chosen to dismiss cases against criminal aliens including aliens who have committed crimes involving moral turpitude crimes of violence assault theft fraud drug offenses driving under the influence and illegal entry.
To be sure ICE has cited a lack of resources as one of the reasons for its prioritization of cases and for its selective enforcement. But to date we have not seen any efforts by ICE your Department or the Administration to request an increase in ICE funding sufficient to address staffing shortages detention capacity and coordination of enforcement efforts nationwide to achieve a streamlined and robust immigration removal system.
As a result it appears that your Department is doing the very thing that we have raised concerns about in several letters allowing illegal aliens to evade the law while waiting without much concern about removal to one day obtain legal status. Though Congress has been slow to reach a comprehensive immigration solution your Department is charged with enforcing the law as written and it should not be adopting a lax approach to immigration enforcement or selectively enforcing the laws against only those aliens it considers a priority.
We would like a detailed list of the number of cases that have been dismissed since January 2010 to the present. If the case involved a criminal alien we also would like you to identify which crimes the aliens were convicted of and in which jurisdiction. In addition we want you to detail exactly how much funding your Department would require to ensure that enforcement of the law occurs consistently for every illegal alien encountered and apprehended by ICE or U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Please respond by November 15th.
Sincerely
John Cornyn United States Senator
Jeff Sessions United States Senator
Jon Kyl United States Senator
Orrin Hatch United States Senator
Chuck Grassley United States Senator
Lindsey Graham United States Senator
Tom Coburn M.D. United States Senator
