Thread: New rules could spare some immigrants from deportation

New rules could spare some immigrants from deportation
By SUSAN CARROLL
June 20, 2011, 9:46PM Share

immigration officials have directed all agents and attorneys to consider exercising prosecutorial discretion in new and pending immigration cases, potentially sparing untold numbers of illegal immigrants from deportation.

A memo issued by Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton on Friday instructs all officers, agents and government attorneys to consider a wide range of factors before charging people with being in the country illegally or pushing ahead with their deportation cases.

Immigrant advocates said they were encouraged by a change in guidelines, which instruct ICE officials to consider everything from a suspected illegal immigrant's community contributions to criminal history before making a determination on a case.

'Smart enforcement'
Special consideration should be given to witnesses and victims of crimes, relatives of U.S. citizens and green card holders, military veterans and college students brought to the U.S. as children, according to the guidelines.

"This is an example of smart enforcement of the immigration laws," said Eleanor Pelta, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, which represents 11,000 attorneys and law professors who practice and teach immigration law. "It really encourages ICE agents to use their limited resources to pursue dangerous people who would do us harm, rather than harmless, innocent people, rather than people who are just going about their business."

But members of the ICE union and supporters of stricter immigration controls charged the memo undercuts efforts to enforce the law.

"This is a law enforcement nightmare," said Chris Crane, president of the national ICE Council. "There is basically an out in this memo for everyone illegally in the United States. We will never know who we can and can't arrest."

In the memo, Morton urged caution when considering exercising discretion for illegal immigrants who pose a "clear risk" to national security. He also singled out "serious felons, repeat offenders, or individuals with a lengthy criminal record of any kind."

Still not legal
ICE officials and immigrant advocates stressed that exercising prosecutorial discretion does not convey any legal status to illegal immigrants — meaning they still are not authorized to live and work legally in the U.S. The case dismissals essentially would mean that officials are no longer actively trying to remove defendants through the immigration court system, though they can refile such charges at a later date.

Pelta said the new prosecutorial discretion memo differs from earlier agency guidance by empowering employees from field agents to senior officials to consider whether cases meet with agency priorities. The memo also instructs ICE officials to consider more specific factors than in the past, which could help immigrants make compelling cases to avoid deportation, she said.

Last fall, ICE officials faced major backlash after conducting a review of the Houston immigration court docket, culling out hundreds of cases and leading to charges by critics that they created a kind of "back-door amnesty" for illegal immigrants.

Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which urges stricter immigration controls, said the administration is reacting to pressure from immigrant advocates.

"This is the way headquarters is telling agents in the field that they shouldn't be enforcing the law as strictly as ... they are," Krikorian said. "It's a thinly veiled threat to let up on immigration enforcement."


http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/met ... 18722.html

Related Thread
ICE announces changes to immigration enforcement

http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-241194-imm ... eportation

More Policy Amnesty!!!!

ICE agents don't write the laws (Legislators do), they are not qualified to interpret the laws (Judges are), and their duty is to follow the laws (Enforcers of the law).

This is wrong, wrong, wrong... We already know ICE Director John Morton is Obama's political pawn.

Morton reminds me of the tied up goat in the movie Jurassic Park. The goat always gets it in the end.

Dixie