Thread: Deportations plunge under Obama policy

By William E. Gibson Washington Bureau
March 22, 2015

WASHINGTON — A controversial new immigration policy designed to remove criminals but keep families together has led to a steep plunge in the number of foreign residents deported from Florida and the nation.

The rate of deportations has been cut by half in Florida and by 43 percent nationwide during the past five months compared with three years ago, according to figures provided by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The change stems from President Barack Obama's decision to focus on removing immigrants who have committed serious crimes, not established residents who are living or working in the country illegally.

Despite the declining numbers, immigrant advocates in Florida say many residents remain fearful of being picked up and deported. They cite ongoing checkpoints and enforcement raids carried out by agents who, critics say, don't always follow the president's priorities.

The new policy "has had an impact, but it isn't followed to the letter," said Jonathan Fried, executive director of WeCount!, an immigrant-rights group in Homestead. "Immigration agents continue to pick up people who have no criminal record and shouldn't be a priority."

Immigration officials say they are dutifully following the president's policy.

Training Initiatives include mandatory online courses for all ICE personnel. Officers are handed quick-reference cards listing enforcement priorities. And ICE leaders have conducted town hall-style meetings with employees and community leaders to talk about them.

But signs of frustration and resistance have emerged from the ranks. Ten immigration agents filed suit in 2012, saying Obama's directives have hampered their attempts to enforce the law.

Obama's policy puts the highest priority on removing immigrants suspected of terrorism or espionage, members of criminal street gangs and convicted felons. Next highest are those who commit "significant misdemeanors," including domestic violence, sexual abuse, burglary, drug dealing or drunken driving. Those who "significantly abuse" their visas are also listed in the second tier.

The policy shift began in 2012 when Hispanic leaders and immigrant communities complained bitterly about a rising tide of detentions and deportations, which divided families. Obama renewed and expanded the policy in November, spelling out the priorities while announcing new rules to shield up to 5.2 million people nationwide, including 253,000 in Florida, from the threat of deportation.

The rules, expected to take effect this spring, would temporarily spare the parents of U.S. citizens or legal residents. And they would allow immigrants who were brought to the country illegally when they were children to remain here.

A federal judge in Texas blocked the new rules in February, setting up an intense legal battle in the Court of Appeals. But while the rules are stalled, Obama's enforcement priorities remain in force.

ICE figures show that deportations amounted to 409,849 in the federal fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30, 2012 — a rate of 1,123 a day. Two years later, they dropped sharply to 315,943, or 866 a day.

In Florida, they dropped from 12,366, or 34 a day, in fiscal 2012 to 7,853, or about 22 a day, in 2014. (The Florida figures include removals from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.)

Over the past five months, from Oct. 1 through March 7, the rate dropped to 640 per day nationwide and 16 per day in Florida.

Ongoing enforcement, nevertheless, has sparked alarms that some immigrants who may eventually become eligible for legal status are still being stopped and rounded up for removal.

"They are supposed to be a low priority, but we know there are checkpoints still happening," said Francesca Menes, policy director for the Florida Immigrant Coalition, based in Miami. "Some of our members on Facebook are alerting the community, saying they are pulling people over, checking for licenses, so steer away from those areas because it's still happening. Families are still being separated, unfortunately."

The climate of fear and the complications faced by those who enforce the law have prompted renewed calls for immigration reform. Congress, however, remains sharply divided on how or whether to clear up the status of 11 million people nationwide and an estimated 632,000 in Florida who remain in the shadows of the law.

Removals from the country have significantly decreased as a result of changes in enforcement policy.

Fiscal year………………Nationwide…..Rate per day…..Florida……..Fla. rate per day

2012………………………..409,849………1,123……………12,366……….34

2013………………………..368,644………1,010…………….8,475………..23

2014………………………..315,943………..866……………..7,853………..22

2015 (Oct. 1-March 7)……101,201………..640……………..2,527………..16

SOURCE: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Fiscal years run from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30. Florida figures include removals from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-...322-story.html

The climate of fear and the complications faced by those who enforce the law have prompted renewed calls for immigration reform.

Really? Illegal aliens who hauled themselves in here in the custody of armed drug cartels, who hid in trucks and trunks and walked through the desert are afraid of being arrested and deported back to their beloved home countries? Really? Oh no, they aren't afraid, they just don't want to go home. Here they have jobs, special treatment, special class, advocates, Presidential Protection, welfare, tax credits, Medicaid or free health care, and on and on and on. No wonder they don't want to leave, but are they "afraid"? No, they aren't afraid, they just say that to invoke sympathy while they plot their next criminal moves to steal more jobs, educations and money, to run drugs and keep their cartel sponsors happy, and of course bankrupt and change our government to keep their home governments happy.

Americans must see this travesty for what it is, a mess on all counts, that has to be stopped, corrected and removed from our country.

And for law enforcement to whine about "complications"? What is complicated for trained police officers to arrest and deport illegal aliens, families intact? You arrest an illegal alien, you ask them where their family is, you find them, and deport the whole kit and caboodle, families intact. If a spouse is a US citizen, they have the choice of paying their way to leave with their loved one and take their kids with them, or stay here and shut the hell up. They knew this was coming when they married an illegal alien. I'm still trying to figure out who marries illegal aliens and citizens in the United States. Personally, I don't believe those marriages are legal, and they probably aren't, and shouldn't be recognized under marriage contract law of the United States or even discussed in the context of illegal immigration and deportations of illegal aliens.