Thread: Since October, 28,808 deported to Central America, 128,000 to Mexico

DHS arrest 336 illegal immigrants in latest push: ‘He or she must be sent home’


Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson pauses while testifying at a Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on the FY2017 budget request on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 8, 2016. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) more >

Exclusive Washington Times Daily
By Andrea Noble - The Washington Times - Thursday, March 10, 2016

Immigration authorities have arrested 336 immigrants since launching an effort Jan. 23 to deport those in the U.S. illegally, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Most of those arrested for removal from the country are young people who crossed the U.S. border without their parents since 2014 and have since been ordered to be deported by immigration courts, DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson said in a statement issued Wednesday.

“As I have said repeatedly, our borders are not open to illegal migration,” Mr. Johnson said. “If someone was apprehended at the border, has been ordered removed by an immigration court, has no pending appeal and does not qualify for asylum or other relief from removal under our laws, he or she must be sent home.”

Immigration raids that kicked off in January infuriated immigrant-rights advocates, who said the efforts spread fear throughout the Hispanic community. Many of those arrested in early January raids were women and their children.

Mr. Johnson has emphasized that authorities try to avoid arresting individuals for deportation at sensitive locations such as places of worship, schools or doctor’s offices.

Data released by DHS also showed that the number of migrants apprehended while trying to cross the border into the U.S. increased slightly from 23,761 caught in January to 26,078 caught in February. The number of those apprehended last month remains below the swell of 37,014 migrants caught along the border in December. Mr. Johnson noted that the number of unaccompanied minors and family members remained stagnant after decreases from December.

The surge of children, which began in earnest in 2014, has embarrassed the Obama administration, catching both Homeland Security and the Health and Human Services Department off guard. Border Patrol agents were overwhelmed with apprehending the illegal immigrants, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents struggled to process and deport the families, and social workers at HHS struggled to house the children.

Since October, immigration authorities have returned 28,808 individuals to Central America and approximately 128,000 to Mexico.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...est-push-he-o/

Statement By Secretary Jeh C. Johnson On Southwest Border Security

Release Date:
March 9, 2016

For Immediate Release
DHS Press Office
Contact: 202-282-8010

In connection with the latest monthly release of the numbers of apprehensions on our southwest border, Secretary Johnson made the following statement:

“In February 2016, apprehensions by the Border Patrol on our southwest border – an indicator of total attempts to cross the border illegally – increased slightly from January, but remained substantially below the month-to-month numbers of apprehensions we saw in the latter part of 2015. The numbers of unaccompanied children and family members remained at the same levels as January, which is greatly reduced from the apprehension numbers at the end of 2015. The overall 10 percent increase from January is due to an increase in apprehensions of single adults, from 17,505 in January to 19,917 in February, 71.5 percent of whom are from Mexico. Notably, one year ago, in February 2015, the number of apprehensions of single adults was 19,950, and in February 2014 the number was 28,277.

	UACs	Family Members	All
July 2015	4,182	4,503	28,388
August 2015	4,638	5,159	30,239
September 2015	4,485	5,273	30,286
October 2015	4,944	6,026	32,726
November 2015	5,610	6,471	32,845
December 2015	6,775	8,974	37,014
January 2016	3,111	3,145	23,761
February 2016	3,113	3,048	26,078

Recent enforcement actions, which focus on those apprehended at the border on or after January 1, 2014, continue. On January 4, I announced enforcement actions that took place on January 2-3. Further, at my direction, beginning January 23 ICE has been conducting “Operation Border Guardian,” by which ICE has taken into custody 336 individuals. The focus of this operation are those who came here illegally as unaccompanied children after January 1, 2014, and are now over 18, have been ordered removed by an immigration court, and have no pending appeal or claim of asylum or other relief.

Others who are priorities for removal have been apprehended as part of this operation. When enforcing the immigration laws, our personnel will not, except in emergency circumstances, apprehend an individual at a place of worship, a school, a hospital or doctor’s office or other sensitive location.

These actions are part of our broader and ongoing efforts to enforce our immigration laws, in line with our stated priorities. Since October 1, ICE has repatriated a total of 28,808 individuals to Central America, and ICE and the Border Patrol have either repatriated or returned approximately 128,000 to Mexico.

Since October 1, there have been a total of 290 removal flights to Central America. We are working with the Mexican government to increase the number of removal flights there from two to three flights per week. On February 23, we entered into new agreements with the Mexican government for the more efficient repatriation of adults, and safe and timely repatriation of families and unaccompanied children.

As I have said repeatedly, our borders are not open to illegal migration. If someone was apprehended at the border, has been ordered removed by an immigration court, has no pending appeal, and does not qualify for asylum or other relief from removal under our laws, he or she must be sent home. We must and we will enforce the law in accordance with our enforcement priorities.

I have also been working closely with the Department of Justice to ensure that as many unaccompanied children as possible have appropriate representation during immigration proceedings. We support improving the process for all those in immigration proceedings and have requested over $17 million as part of the President’s FY17 budget request to support critical initiatives that provide legal assistance services to vulnerable immigrants, including $2 million for Justice AmeriCorps - a program that specifically provides legal representation to unaccompanied minors. We need every element of the court process to work effectively to accomplish the goal of both honoring humanitarian claims and processing those who do not qualify for relief.

With the Department of Justice, we are also doubling down on our efforts to apprehend and prosecute smugglers. Through initiatives like Operation Coyote, we are targeting the transnational criminal organizations that profit from human smuggling. Since its launch in summer 2014, Operation Coyote has to date resulted in the criminal arrest of 1,124 individuals, 877 indictments, and 829 convictions.

Finally, as I have said in the past, we recognize that many who seek to flee Central America may be regarded as refugees. We are expanding our Refugee Admissions Program to help vulnerable men, women and children in Central America. In partnership with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and non-governmental organizations in the region, we have taken preliminary steps to ensure we are able to implement this new program as soon as possible. This approach builds on our recently established Central American Minors program, which is now providing an in-country refugee processing option for certain children with parents in the United States, as well as the existing asylum process; to date, the State Department has received 7,606 applications for this Program.

Again, our policy is clear: We will continue to enforce the immigration laws and secure our borders consistent with our priorities and values.

At the same time, we will offer vulnerable populations in Central America an alternate, safe and legal path to a better life.”

# # #

Review Date:
March 9, 2016

https://www.dhs.gov/news/2016/03/09/...order-security

ICE arrests 25 criminal aliens in central Florida

The nation's top immigration officer said that the "11 million" undocumented aliens in the United States are "not going away," are "in effect" citizens, and added that deporting the few the administration wants out is unpleasant.
(unpleasant to rid our citizens of dangerous killers, rapists?)

Jeh Johnson, secretary of Homeland Security, told Harvard University students this week that the administration is focused on its plan to integrate illegals into America, despite the policy being tied up in court.

Johnson said that he plans to be in the front row of the Supreme Court April 18 when the case is discussed.

But in the meantime, he is making the case that the illegals here, estimated at a much higher 15.7 million by the Center for Immigration Studies, have essentially become American. The proof: They go to school, have licenses to drive, and can even practice law in California.

Johnson said:

"Immigration policy must be two sides of the same coin. On the one hand, we want to reckon with, acknowledge the estimated 11 million undocumented in this country. More than half of the undocumented population of this country has been here for more than 10 years. And millions of them have in effect become integrated members of society, they go to school with us, they have driver's licenses, they have kids who are U.S. citizens, they have kids who are lawful permanent residents. The California Supreme Court says that an undocumented person has a right to practice law in the state of California. So they are not going away. So do we insist that they live in a state of ambiguity, or do we reckon with this population and give them the opportunity to get on the books and be accountable?"

Addressing the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum Monday night, he also said that the U.S. doesn't have "open borders," but added that deporting criminal aliens and others targeted for removal isn't pleasant.

Johnson said that deportations have dropped because he wants the focus only on criminals, but even then he isn't a fan of deporting illegals.

By Kelly Cohen 03/27/16 8:32 PM

"While the number of deportations in the last several years have gone down dramatically, because I've told our immigration enforcement personnel to to focus on the convicted criminals, we have a border security obligation to return people after they've gone through the process, gone through the litigation process, they've litigated their asylum claims, and they have been ordered deported by a court, and if they are our priorities we have to send them back.
(he does not mention the 6 yr court backlog which is why the agents are told "it makes no sense to keep them- leave them go")

"Is it pleasant? Absolutely not. But as long as we have the obligation to enforce the law, we must enforce the law. We can't have open borders. I know that disappoints many people, but we can't have open borders," said Johnson.
(does he work for American citizens that pay his salary or free loading border sneakers?)
(all obama appointees are as screwed up as himself)

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/dh...u7Xq90.twitter