Thread: Jeh Johnson meets with immigration reform critics

By SEUNG MIN KIM | 5/7/14 7:42 PM EDT
POLITICO


Johnson gave no hints on what his deportations review would yield. | John Shinkle/POLITICO

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.

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/0...rm-106469.html

Originally Posted by Jean

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 best enforcement tool is one that focuses on reserving American jobs for American workers, by imlementing Universal E-Verify. Do that and we'll eliminate the jobs lure.
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Americans first in this magnificent country

American jobs for American workers

Fair trade, not free trade

Homeland Security Secretary and Anti-Amnesty Groups Met This Week — Here’s How It Went

May. 9, 2014 7:51am Fred Lucas
The Blaze


(AP Photo/ Evan Vucci, File)

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, reviewing the Obama administration’s deportation policy, has issues with “sanctuary” local governments that are not cooperating with the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said conservatives who met with him on Wednesday.

“Secretary Johnson seemed genuinely vexed by the state and local efforts to ignore federal law on ICE detainees,” Mark Krikorian, the executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), told TheBlaze. “He didn’t seem pleased by it.”

Johnson met with representatives from the CIS, the Federation of Americans for Immigration Reform (FAIR), Numbers USA, and the conservative advocacy group Eagle Forum, all which oppose granting legal status to some 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States.

Johnson was joined in the meeting with the conservative groups by DHS General Counsel Stevan Bunnell.

Johnson also met separately with the liberal groups Progressives for Immigration Reform and United We Dream, both which advocate a so called “pathway to citizenship” for those already in the United States. He further spoke with the National Sheriffs Association on a conference call.

“There was discussion that if the president’s primary enforcement priority is to remove criminal aliens, Homeland Security can’t reach that goal if there is not cooperation at the state and local level,” said FAIR Executive Direct Julie Kirchner told TheBlaze.

Another key topic was “proactive enforcement across the board,” and not just waiting until an offender is in jail for another reason, said Kirchner, who described the meeting as “cordial and professional.”

“I think the jury is still out on how fruitful this might be,” Kirchner said of the meeting. “If it spurs ongoing dialogue it would be very fruitful. If it’s a way for them to say we met with these folks, perhaps not.”

The Homeland Security Department issued a statement about the secretary’s meetings, but it did not detail specific topics of discussion.

“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,” the statement said. “In addition, Secretary Johnson continues to seek the advice and input of his team within DHS, to include component leadership and frontline employees who are charged with implementing DHS policies and enforcement priorities.”

The statement added that like President Barack Obama, Johnson is committed to “enforcing and administering our immigration laws effectively and sensibly, in line with our Nation’s values.”

Johnson seemed to reject the notion that the administration will stop enforcing the law against people who were deported and returned or people who were deported and remained in the country, as was recommended by former ICE Direct John Sandweg in a Los Angeles Times oped that the new deportation policy.

That was some comfort to Krikorian.

“The reaction from Johnson was almost contemptuous. My sense is that he’s not going to do that,” Krikorian said referring to Johnson’s reaction to Sandweg’s suggestion. “He said, ‘he doesn’t know what he’s talking about,’ and ‘he doesn’t work here anymore.’”

Krikorian was impressed that the secretary met with the groups and doubted that former Secretary Janet Napolitano would have had such a meeting. Though he did not believe any minds were changed.

“He said, ‘If you’re here to tell me I have problems, I know I have problem,’” Krikorian recalled. “He said it was an issue of priorities. Prosecutorial discretion is understandable.”

But Krikorian said a certain degree of randomness is needed in all law enforcement, be it speed traps by police or random audits by the Internal Revenue Service to ensure compliance with the law.

He said only enforcing immigration law against criminal aliens “would be the equivalency of the IRS only going after drug money or Russian mobsters and saying regular tax cheats are not a priority.”

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014...s-how-it-went/

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