Tuesday, May 11, 2010



GAO: ICE yet to deport 264 removable aliens
CBP cuts staff from 45 to 30 in CNMI

By Haidee V. Eugenio

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had yet to deport any of the 264 aliens subject to possible removal from the CNMI as of March 9, 2010, the Government Accountability Office said in an 88-page report on the implementation of federal immigration law in the CNMI since Nov. 28, 2009.

From Dec. 27, 2009 to March 1, 2010, ICE identified 264 aliens for removal from the CNMI.

These include 214 referrals from the CNMI Office of the Attorney General with pending CNMI deportation orders, and 49 referrals from the ICE Office of Investigations and the community.

“On March 9, 2010, ICE officials told us that they had not deported any of the 72 aliens being processed for removal but that 31 were scheduled for immigration hearings by the end of March 2010 and nine had agreed to waive their right to a hearing and to be deported after completing their criminal sentences,â€