ICE Official: Illegals Who Witness Crimes by MS-13 Gang Should Not Fear Deportation
By Melanie Arter | January 18, 2018 | 12:34 PM EST
https://www.cnsnews.com/s3/files/sty...?itok=wWQ5osE1
Raymond Villaneuva, assistant director in charge of international operations for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Screenshot of C-SPAN video)
(CNSNews.com) – An Immigration and Customs Enforcement official told the House Homeland Security subcommittee on Thursday that illegal immigrants who witness crimes by gang members like MS-13 should not fear being deported if they come forward, because there are protections for witnesses who cooperate with law enforcement.
During a hearing on Combating Transnational Gangs Through Information Sharing held by the Counterterrorism and Intelligence Subcommittee, Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.) asked Raymond Villaneuva, assistant director in charge of international operations for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, how he deals with the fear that illegals will be punished for coming forward about MS-13 gang members.
“There are many undocumented immigrants, who I’m sure you are aware are victims of transnational criminal organizations, including MS-13, certainly where Chairman King and I are from. They witness crimes by gang members, but as you know, many of them don’t want to come forward, because they are afraid that they are then going to be taken into custody, deported, depending on what their status is,” Rice said.
“So my question is, it seems that the administration’s rhetoric and policies towards undocumented immigrants have really caused that fear to escalate. So how are you as law enforcement agencies needing information from people who may be here illegally but are being victimized and have information to help you address the criminal activities of MS-13 and other gangs. How do you deal with that issue?” Rice asked.
“It’s a concern that we law enforcement deal with every day. As a matter of fact, there are protections for witnesses when they come forward to law enforcement – whether they’re in the country legally or not,” Villaneuva replied.
“Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, the INA, we can provide those individuals with continued presence,” he said, adding that the authority has been “delegated to the authority of Homeland Security, which then delegates that to ICE.”
“We can work with that community, and we can offer protections, continued presence, significant public benefit paroles, and there’s some other tools out there to protect those individuals from being deported, to protect those individuals from violence from those gangs,” Villaneuva said.
“So there’s protection for them when they come forward to law enforcement, and when I’m saying law enforcement, not only ICE, HSI, when they come forward to the FBI, we will work with our FBI partners to grant those protections to any witness that comes forward regardless of that person’s immigration status,” he said.
When asked whether that’s made it easier for law enforcement to get information and how does the government inform people that it’s okay for illegals to come forward, Villaneuva said, “So we do have actually outreach campaigns through the victim assistance program, and certainly, efforts like this where we have the ability to talk to the American people about the programs are paramount to get the word out, so really appreciate your question on this topic.”
https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article...ive-protection
