Thread: ICE Chief Vows To Process Illegals In AZ

ICE Chief Vows To Process Illegals In AZ
June 10, 2010 - 1:58 PM | by: Mike Levine



John Morton


The nation's top immigration enforcement official vowed on Thursday to process many -- but not all -- of the illegal immigration cases referred to his agency by the state of Arizona, something he said his agency has continued to do even while federal attorneys wrangle over the Grand Canyon state's new immigration law.

"The truth of the matter is we do not have sufficient resources to identify, apprehend and remove every single person that's in this country unlawfully," John Morton, assistant secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said at a morning press conference. "So we'll continue to accept the referrals from the state of Arizona, just as we do today, but we will continue to make a decision on a case-by-case basis, in light of our resources and in light of our priorities."

Those remarks come three weeks after The Chicago Tribune reported he told editorial staff that "his agency will not necessarily process illegal immigrants referred to them by Arizona officials." The Chicago Tribune did not offer an exact quote, and a subsequent email to the Chicago Tribune reporter seeking Morton's precise wording was not returned.

Republicans on Capitol Hill and others took issue with Morton's remarks, accusing ICE of changing its enforcement policy and "nullifying existing law."

The ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., told Fox News that Morton was "telegraphing to every ICE agency in America that they really don't intend on cooperating with Arizona." Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich., a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, later told a top-ranking ICE official she was "rather stunned" by Morton's comments.

On Thursday, Morton insisted his agency did not change any policies after Arizona passed the controversial immigration law, which broadens the authority of local police by allowing them to ask suspected illegal immigrants for proof of immigration status and detain them if appropriate.

Morton said ICE would alter how it processes referrals only if a Justice Department review analyzing the legislation calls for such a move. The Justice Department is currently weighing whether to file a challenge to the legislation in federal court, with a decision coming "relatively soon," Attorney General Eric Holder said at Thursday's press conference.

"We'll wait to see what the attorney general and his team decides," Morton said. "In the meantime, we're not going to approach enforcement in Arizona any differently than we do now, which is on the merits and [within] the resources that we have."

Morton, answering a reporter's question during the press conference, said Arizona "is a place where we devote a tremendous amount of resources," going after criminal or violent offenders "first and foremost."

"This administration removed a record number of individuals from the United States last year, more than any other administration in the history of this nation," he said. "That's true for the country, and that's also true for Arizona."

Still, he echoed remarks he made to The Chicago Tribune three weeks earlier, saying he doesn't believe "a patchwork of 50 different immigration laws is the right solution."

"I think the federal government is the primary enforcer of immigration laws, and that is the right policy," Morton said.

Sessions has expressed agreement on that, but Sessions has also said that Morton and the Obama administration are failing to fulfill their responsibilities.

"The federal government should step up and do it," he told Fox News three weeks ago. "If [Morton] feels he cannot enforce the law, he shouldn't have the job. ... [He's] not fulfilling the responsibilities of his office."

An email to Sessions' office, asking whether the Alabama senator still feels that way, was not immediately returned.

As for Miller, she called Morton's comments on Thursday "more of the same."

"I think the states are the government's partner in securing the border, and I think they should work in concert together," she told Fox News. "That's a message Mr. Morton should be giving out. ... States are frustrated with the federal government not doing its job."

Three weeks after she told a top-ranking ICE official she was "rather stunned" by Morton's remarks, video of the exchange is prominently displayed on Miller's website, under the title, "Congresswoman Miller questions ICE's involvement in the U.S.-Mexican border security effort."

The video is from a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on May 27, when ICE's deputy assistant secretary for operations, Alonzo Pena, tried to explain Morton's comments.

"There is no directive that we will not enforce the law in Arizona," Pena said at the time. "What [Morton] was saying is that we have prosecutorial discretion, and with the resources that we have, we have to prioritize and go after those aliens that are affecting public safety and the security of Arizona. ... We cannot take every single referral that comes to us. We have to prioritize those."

In response, Miller told Pena she "appreciated" his explanation.

"I hope [Morton] will clarify his statements if that's really what he meant, because I think there was a lot of consternation all throughout the country," she said.

http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010 ... latestnews

FedUp, what does "process" mean in this context?

"I think the federal government is the primary enforcer of immigration laws, and that is the right policy," Morton said.

But the federal government has not enforced much of the immigration laws, just a little here and there to make it look like they're doing something.

vistalad said:


FedUp, what does "process" mean in this context?



PROCESS = AMNESTY !!!

I don't think deportation is really the answer since the illegal invaders will turn around and cross right back over the border. i.e., the illegal who had been deported NINE times and raped a woman in Washington state . And also ICE doesn't have the resources ($$$) to deport each case. (Funny how the administration can find $600+ million to give to Lebannon, but can't fund one of it's agencies enough so that it can do their job).

We need these illegal invaders to 'self deport' and I think if many more states were to pass laws similar to Arizona's, that would happen as they would run out of places to go.

So let's keep pressure on those 18 states considering such legislation. We also need some state laws that will impose and enforce fines, and/or jail time on those hiring illegals (I do believe this is already a federal law but of course is not enforced.)

Originally Posted by kn529

I don't think deportation is really the answer since the illegal invaders will turn around and cross right back over the border. i.e., the illegal who had been deported NINE times and raped a woman in Washington state . And also ICE doesn't have the resources ($$$) to deport each case. (Funny how the administration can find $600+ million to give to Lebannon, but can't fund one of it's agencies enough so that it can do their job).

We need these illegal invaders to 'self deport' and I think if many more states were to pass laws similar to Arizona's, that would happen as they would run out of places to go.

So let's keep pressure on those 18 states considering such legislation. We also need some state laws that will impose and enforce fines, and/or jail time on those hiring illegals (I do believe this is already a federal law but of course is not enforced.)

Not only the Lebanese get 600 mil but the Palastines got 300 mil for their clash with the Israelies......go figure

Originally Posted by FedUpinFarmersBranch

vistalad said: FedUp, what does "process" mean in this context?

PROCESS = AMNESTY !!!

That's the way it looks to me, too. Was hoping for "deportation."

Originally Posted by kn529

I don't think deportation is really the answer since the illegal invaders will turn around and cross right back over the border. i.e., the illegal who had been deported NINE times and raped a woman in Washington state .

We need these illegal invaders to 'self deport' and I think if many more states were to pass laws similar to Arizona's, that would happen as they would run out of places to go.

[b]So let's keep pressure on those 18 states considering such legislation.

kn, deportation can be an effective part of eliminating the illegal aliens problem. President Eisenhower deported them deep into Mexico. That's what we need now.

I agree that unltimately self-deportation is the effective solution and that causing illegals to know that they're out of options is the effective way to achieve that.

By any chance do you have a link that shows those 18 states?

(Don't know why this text is so large.)

Added to Homepage:
http://www.alipac.us/article-5348--0-0.html

ICE would still have limitations on how many detainees they could collect even were they to be with the best iof intentions toward the new situation in Arizona.