Thread: GA - Collins continues to press DHS on release of illegal immigrants

Posted: Tuesday, May 14th 2013 at 9:39am
Ken Stanford
accessnorthga.com


Rep. Doug Collins

WASHINGTON, D.C. – 9th District Congressman Doug Collins says the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) continues to "stonewall" Congress on the release of 2,000 illegal immigrants, something he says is "inexcusable."

Collins said late Monday DHS responded last week to a March 7 letter from him and other members of the Georgia Congressional delegation demanding answers on the "shocking" decision to release over 2,000 criminal illegal aliens without Congressional knowledge or approval.

“Under the guise of sequestration, and in direct contradiction to the laws on the books, DHS has repeatedly made political decisions to release illegal immigrants from custody," Collins charged. "Their answers up to this point have been insufficient at best, and this letter is just another example."

The freshman Republican added “My Georgia colleagues and I have sent a second letter to DHS and ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) requesting detailed, specific information about the releases from the four detention centers in Georgia."

One of the facilities is the North Georgia Detention Center in Gainesville.

"The families in Northeast Georgia, and across our state, deserve to know if criminal aliens were released near their homes and schools," Collins continued. "I hope DHS will place the safety and security of Americans over partisan politics and provide us with the answers we need, and the taxpayers deserve.”

On March 14, the director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, John Morton, testified before Congress that his agency released 2,228 illegal immigrants earlier in the year for what he called "solely budgetary reasons."

Morton and other agency officials spoke during a hearing by a House appropriations subcommittee. He told lawmakers that the decision to release the immigrants was not discussed in advance with political appointees, including those in the White House and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. He said the pending automatic cuts known as sequestration was "driving in the background."

"We were trying to live within the budget that Congress had provided us," Morton told lawmakers. "This was not a White House call. I take full responsibility."

The subcommittee chairman, Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, pressed Morton about the agency's claims that immigrants were routinely released, and Morton acknowledged that the release of more than 2,000 immigrants was not routine.

"At the time this release started, the president of the United States was going around the country telling people what the pain was going to be from sequester," Carter said. "That's a fact. That was the atmosphere. It was Chicken Little, the sky is falling almost."

Morton told Carter that more immigrants were released in Texas than in any other state but did not name other states where they were released. The AP reported earlier that the states where immigrants were released include Arizona, California, Georgia and Texas. There are several immigrant detainee centers in Georgia, including the North Georgia Detention Center in Gainesville.

The AP, citing internal budget documents, reported exclusively on March 1 that the administration had released more than 2,000 illegal immigrants since Feb. 15 and planned to release 3,000 more in March due to looming budget cuts, but Napolitano said days later that the AP's report was "not really accurate" and that the story had developed "its own mythology."

"Several hundred are related to sequester, but it wasn't thousands," Napolitano said March 4 at a Politico-sponsored event.

On March 5, the House Judiciary Committee publicly released an internal ICE document that it said described the agency's plans to release thousands of illegal immigrants before March 31. The document was among those reviewed independently by the AP for its story days earlier.

The immigrants who were released still eventually face deportation and are required to appear for upcoming court hearings. But they are no longer confined in immigration jails, where advocacy experts say they cost about $164 per day per person. Immigrants who are granted supervised release - with conditions that can include mandatory check-ins, home visits and GPS devices - cost the government from 30 cents to $14 a day, according to the National Immigration Forum, a group that advocates on behalf of immigrants.

Morton said Thursday that among the immigrants released were 10 people considered the highest level of offender. Morton said that although that category of offender can include people convicted of aggravated felonies, many of the people released were facing financial crimes. Four of the most serious offenders have been put back in detention. Other people released include immigrants who had faced multiple drunken driving offenses, misdemeanor crimes and traffic offenses, Morton said.

After the administration challenged the AP's reporting, ICE said it didn't know how many people had been released for budget reasons but would review its records.

http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=261478

McCain learns more details about detainees' release

By KTAR Newsroom
Originally published: May 16, 2013 - 10:30 am

PHOENIX -- Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Thursday new information shows customs enforcement released more than 600 detainees with criminal records.

Homeland Security set free more than 2,000 detainees in February because of impending budget cuts. About 200 detainees were released in Arizona.

"ICE's reprehensible actions put Arizona at risk by setting free into our communities hundreds of detainees who were guilty of criminal offenses," said McCain in a statement, released jointly with Carl Levin (D-Mich.), who is chairman of the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

From the statement:

In February 2013, in a misguided effort to comply with anticipated budget cuts due in part to sequestration, without explanation or warning, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials released from custody 2,226 detainees into communities across the country. In response to requests for information by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), after a three month delay and under threat of a possible subpoena, finally disclosed details about those releases. DHS disclosed that, as part of the larger release, it freed 622 detainees with criminal records, including 32 with multiple felony convictions.

Among the crimes committed by those released in Arizona, according to the statement, included second-degree robbery, drug possession, stalking and DUIs.

"The ICE officials responsible for this must face disciplinary action and must take all actions necessary to ensure that this never happens again," McCain said.



KTAR Newsroom,
http://ktar.com/22/1634877/McCain-le...ainees-release

8 ICE detainees with felony convictions unaccounted for


A February 2013 release of ICE detainees with criminal records notes that DHS disclosed that as part of a larger release, it freed 622 detainees with criminal records (including 32 with multiple felony convictions). Upon realizing the offenses DHS apprehended 24 of the 32 detainees with felony convictions. However, eight remain unaccounted for.


More tonight on Special Report with Doug McKelway and our panel @6pmET!

SENATORS McCAIN AND LEVIN: NEW INFORMATION REGARDING ICE DETAINEE RELEASE

Washington, D.C. *– U.S. Senators John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Ranking Member and Chairman of the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, today released the following new information about the February 2013 release of ICE detainees with criminal records:


In February 2013, in a misguided effort to comply with anticipated budget cuts due in part to sequestration, without explanation or warning, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials released from custody 2,226 detainees into communities across the country. In response to requests for information by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), after a three month delay and under threat of a possible subpoena, finally disclosed details about those releases. DHS disclosed that, as part of the larger release, it freed 622 detainees with criminal records, including 32 with multiple felony convictions.


Among the 32 detainees, for example, ICE’s Phoenix District Office released a detainee who had a felony second degree robbery prior conviction and countless convictions for prostitution and solicitation for lewd conduct. The Phoenix office releases also included an individual who had been convicted of an extreme case of driving under the influence (DUI) and harassment, as well as having caused criminal damage to property, as well as a detainee who had prior convictions for carrying a loaded firearm, DUI with a controlled substance, felony possession of drugs, second degree burglary, vandalism, and trespassing. The San Francisco Field Office released someone with a prior felony conviction to manufacture fake identifications as well as a man with two DUIs and two stalking convictions, the last one as recent as 2012. The Houston office deemed a person convicted of felony possession of marijuana of up to 2,000 pounds acceptable for release.


When DHS realized the seriousness of the offenses, it re-apprehended 24 of the 32 detainees with felony convictions who had been freed. DHS considered returning the remaining eight to physical custody, but took other actions instead, including using ankle bracelets to track their movements. DHS told the Subcommittee that local ICE officials at regional field offices had the discretion to choose which detainees to release. The Senators recommend that disciplinary action be considered for the ICE officials responsible for releasing detainees with multiple felony convictions into communities.


“ICE’s reprehensible actions put Arizona at risk by setting free into our communities hundreds of detainees who were guilty of criminal offenses, said Senator John McCain. “The ICE officials responsible for this must face disciplinary action and must take all actions necessary to ensure that this never happens again.”


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/specia...#ixzz2TU6jzTCM