Thread: ICE overrun by number of illegal aliens

http://www.t-g.com/story/1161392.html

ICE overrun by number of illegal aliens
Saturday, July 22, 2006
By Beth Rucker

NASHVILLE (AP) -- Federal immigration officials here say they simply do not have enough agents to process every person assumed to be in the country illegally.
At the request of Gov. Phil Bredesen, representatives of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, met Friday with state and local law enforcement officials to improve communication among all agencies in handling illegal immigration.

"Our biggest issue is manpower," said Katherine Molyneux, who represented ICE. "It would be impossible to handle every single (illegal immigrant)."

Bredesen said he wants to determine what kinds of criminal offenses need to take priority with immigration officials and make state and local law enforcement aware of those priorities.

"We have to figure out how to turn the heat up without overwhelming them," he said.

An illegal immigrant who commits a felony will always be a priority, Molyneux said. But something as simple as a speeding ticket or other traffic stop would not take priority.

Molyneux said the federal government has plans to expand the number of agents within Immigration and Customs Enforcement across the country. She has fewer agents "than you can count on your fingers" to handle calls from other law enforcement agencies about illegal immigrants.

"They need more like 250," the governor said.

Bredesen also said he would like to create a law enforcement database of information of every arrest that involves a person suspected to be an illegal immigrant. That way, he said, authorities will be able to track people who are arrested repeatedly without being deported.

At least two immigrants accused recently of serious crimes in the Nashville area have been arrested numerous times. A Davidson County grand jury report blamed poor communication among local and federal law enforcement officials.

Gustavo Reyes Garcia had been jailed at least 14 times prior to allegedly driving drunk and smashing into a sedan last month, killing a Mt. Juliet couple.

Ruben Hernandez Martinez was cited or arrested three times on misdemeanor charges before police said he began terrorizing women, committing a series of armed home invasions and rapes in Nashville in 1997 and 1998. He was jailed in Nashville last month after being extradited from Mexico.

Davidson County District Attorney General Torry Johnson said that either officials with his office or local authorities notify ICE every time a person in their custody tells them they are in the country illegally.

"In all but the most serious offenses they are dealt within the system, punished and we have no other option but to release them," he said during the Friday meeting.

Bredesen said he had hoped that the federal government would have put in place a better structure to handle illegal immigration problems. But the U.S. Senate and House have failed to reconcile competing immigration bills.

Bredesen said other areas that need a more focused approach to illegal immigration include the state's social programs, such as TennCare, and the state's business community.

The meeting came a day after Bredesen told The Associated Press that he felt Republicans are trying to make illegal immigration a "wedge issue." He said he's trying to implement a more measured and nonpartisan approach to illegal immigration.

"I dislike that it's turned into a political food fight," Bredesen said Friday. "Everybody is throwing things at everyone else."

If the local law enforcement would be allowed to make arrest we would be able to see some results. There are nearly a million people that work for the justice departments nation wide.

Local police make arrest on every other federal, state and local law I can think of. The only area that they do not touch is the Federal Immigration Laws.

I think the Federal government doesn't want them enforced.

This is by far the biggest travesty of justice I can think of, ever in the history of the United States. The depth and width of the corruption is boundless.

We have enough laws. We have enough men. We have to find a way to allow them to do their jobs despite the Federal Government.