Thread: GOP lawmaker likens Obama to Castro

GOP lawmaker likens Obama to Castro


By Jordy Yager -
02/28/13 01:45 PM ET

Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Pa.) on Thursday compared the Obama administration’s release of hundreds of illegal immigrants from detention centers to the mass exodus of Cuban refugees condoned by Fidel Castro in 1980.

Barletta — who has a record of cracking down on illegal immigrants as the former mayor of Hazelton, Pa. — criticized the administration's move to release the illegal immigrants into a supervised monitoring program as “inexcusable.”"This is a federal government that has grown so big and so expensive that they would rather let criminals go than federal employees,” Barletta said in an interview on Fox News.

“This reminds me of when Fidel Castro released the criminal prisoners in the Mariel boatlift in 1980. To go to that level, that this is the only cost savings we could do, is to put Americans at risk by any criminal alien, regardless of what the crime was, is inexcusable.”

The White House and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have said they did not know beforehand about Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) move earlier this week, which targeted only illegal immigrants deemed to be a low public-safety risk.

ICE has said the mass release was in preparation for the $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts, widely expected to go into effect on March 1, which would limit the number of detainees ICE could pay to house. The former detainees were released into a less costly monitoring program, according to an agency official.

Barletta's comments were referencing the 1980 event in which more than 100,000 Cubans emigrated to the United States to flee Castro's regime. Some of the immigrants had been freed from prisons and mental health centers by Castro ahead of the mass exodus.

Republicans have been hammering the administration for more details all week about how many illegal immigrants were placed in the supervised release program, the specifics of their criminal records and which agency officials made the call to release them.

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Published: 3 hours ago
World Net Daily

Obama 'taking page out of Castro playbook


The Obama White House firmly denies any involvement in the release of hundreds of detained illegal aliens, but U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., told WND that’s preposterous and the move was done to inflict punishment for Obama not getting his way on sequestration.

According to White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, the decision to release several hundred allegedly “low-risk” illegals was made entirely by officials at Immigration and Customs Enforcement and was done because of looming budget cuts related to the sequestration spending cuts.

Does Gosar believe that story?

“Absolutely not,” he said. “This just shows the pattern of do-and-deny that this administration does over and over again. We saw it in ‘Fast & Furious.’ We also saw it in the horrific acts of Benghazi. So here’s No. 3. Three’s a charm. We need to wake up and understand how this administration rolls.”

The congressman then elaborated on why he believes the administration would consciously release criminals as the first response to a budget tightening.

“This was to create hysteria in which to get the public behind their mantra of increasing taxes and doing it the president’s way in sequester,” Gosar said. “This shows the lack of leadership by this president and this administration for accountability and responsibility. When you look at our core functions as a federal government is security and protection. Boy, I certainly hope that none of these people that are released create a crime that cost a citizen both injury to themselves, their life or their property.

“This is absolutely horrific. It’s like taking page out of Fidel Castro’s playbook, dumping people out on the streets egregiously,” he said, echoing a similar statement by Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Pa., to Fox News today.

The congressman believes another factor is at work in this decision as well. Like Gov. Jan Brewer, Gosar believes the president is still bitter at Arizona officials over the immigration fight between the state and the Obama administration.

“I find it kind of interesting and very offensive that once again this administration targets Arizona as one of its foremost states to pick on,” Gosar said. “We have additional responses by this administration by rules and regulations and administrative rulings that (designate) Arizona as their evil stepchild.”

The Obama administration insists the released illegals do not pose a criminal risk, are still being monitored and are still on schedule to be deported. But Gosar isn’t convinced.

“First of all, they didn’t know and now they do know? Give me a break. The bureaucracy of DHS is just horrifically riddled with oversight balloons and potholes,” he said.

Gosar is a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and promises the panel will investigate this thoroughly, although he’s not holding out much hope for cooperation from the Obama administration.

“Absolutely. This is part of our job, part of our detail. And I’m sure that the administration, like they did in ‘Fast & Furious,’ in Benghazi as well as other things like Solyndra. They’ll show us contempt by not giving us the proper details and information that we should have access and proper access to,” he said.

According to Gosar, the decision to release illegals shed some light onto how Obama really views the looming immigration reform debate.

“The president probably doesn’t want to have an immigration policy and get this broken policy fixed because he keeps intruding and stirring the pot so that we don’t come to a creative solution that defines a good, secure immigration policy,” he said.

Obama ‘taking page out Castro playbook’

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