Thread: The administration’s deportation machine BY RUBE

The administration’s deportation machine

BY RUBEN NAVARRETTE
Published: June 3, 2011

SAN DIEGO — How in the world was the Obama administration able to round up and deport nearly 1 million people over the last 2 years?

The administration’s deportation machine

No doubt, the people at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency are good at their jobs. But what’s their secret?

Two words: Secure Communities. When first unveiled in 2008, the program was marketed to local governments and law enforcement agencies as an effective tool to allow U.S. immigration officials to identify and deport illegal immigrants convicted of serious crimes who were already in jail. And, in a point that has caused controversy, local and state officials were led to believe that participation in the program was voluntary.

It turns out, almost none of this is true. Everything about the initiative — all the rules, goals, standards and procedures — is written in invisible ink.

Many of the illegal immigrants who have been deported under the program were not hardened criminals or even criminals at all. (Being in the United States without proper documents is not a crime but a civil violation.) They were arrested, fingerprinted and dumped in holding cells. But they hadn’t been formally arraigned, brought before a judge, or put on trial. They never made it that far because, as soon as local authorities took their fingerprints and alerted ICE of any suspected illegal immigrants, the feds swooped in and took custody. The catch of the day might include anyone from a drunk driver to a shoplifter to a battered wife hauled in along with her spouse after a domestic quarrel.

Moreover, the administration can’t even decide whether the program is mandatory or optional. According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, “hundreds of ICE emails released in response to litigation by immigrant and civil rights groups show the agency knowingly misled local and state officials to believe that participation in the program was voluntary while internally acknowledging that this was not the case.â€

I have no trouble with removing illegal immigrants

What a jokester this guy is.