Homeland Security Targets Ex-Cons in Immigration Cases

by Justin Davis on November 23, 2011

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is now reviewing deportation cases with plans to speed up processing for individuals who have criminal records.

To do this, prosecutors’ offices, courts and enforcement officials have been directed by the Obama administration to shift focus to illegal immigrants who have been convicted of past crimes in an attempt to prioritize a docket of 300,000 ongoing deportation cases.

Homeland security officials have issued memorandums across the spectrum of enforcement from border patrol agents to immigration judges that provide guidelines on how to achieve procedural goals, which includes the dismissal of cases that involve individuals with no criminal record.

Critics describe the move as “backdoor amnestyâ€