Napolitano: DHS Authorizing Illegal Aliens to Work in U.S.

Napolitano: DHS Authorizing Illegal Aliens to Work in U.S.

By Edwin Mora
October 19, 2011
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(CNSNews.com) -- Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that under the administration’s policy of exercising “prosecutorial discretion” in the enforcement of the immigration laws, her department is currently authorizing some illegal aliens to work in the United States.

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, asked Napolitano: “According to the information from your department, some individuals who are given relief will obtain work authorizations. So people with no right to be in the country will be allowed to work here. Is that correct?”

Napolitano said: “Well, senator, since around 1986 there has been a process where those who are technically unlawfully in the country may apply for work authorization. This goes to CIS [Citizenship and Immigration Services]. It's not an ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] or CBP [Customs and Border Protection] function. And those cases are reviewed by CIS in a case-by-case basis. So there’s no change in that process. Like I said, that goes back to the mid-80s that is contemplated now.”

Sen. Grassley then asked, “But yes, some of them could have an opportunity to work here even though they are here illegally?”

“Well, that happens now, senator,” said Napolitano.

The three agencies she mentioned are all components of DHS.
Although Napolitano did not specify what 1986 policy she was referring to in her response to Sen. Grassley, President Ronald Reagan signed the Simpson-Mazzoli Act into law in November of that year. The act applied to illegal aliens who requested a change of status within 18 months of the law's passage and who had come into the United States prior to Jan. 1, 1982, and had resided in America since that time.

According to the latest figures from the Department of Labor, the national unemployment rate is 9.1 percent and the number of unemployed persons has reached at least 14 million.

In a June 17 memo, ICE Director John Morton ordered federal immigration officials to use "prosecutorial discretion" in deciding which illegal aliens to remove from the country.

The purpose of the “prosecutorial discretion” policy is to remove the worst offenders while releasing others, particularly victims of domestic violence and other crimes; witnesses to crimes; or people who are charged with minor traffic violations.

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Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa). (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

“Exercising favorable discretion, such as release from detention and deferral or a stay of removal generally will be appropriate,” Morton said, unless the unauthorized alien poses national security concerns, has a “serious criminal history,” poses a threat to public safety, is a human rights violator or is involved in “significant” immigration fraud.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Napolitano mentioned that as a result of the “prosecutorial discretion” policy, the Obama administration will review “roughly 300,000” cases that are on the “master docket of what’s pending in immigration courts.”

“The goal” of that process is “to administratively close some of the low priority cases so that we can facilitate handling the higher priority cases,” said Napolitano. That indicates that some illegal immigrants will be allowed to stay in the country because their cases will be closed.

Although she did not rule out the possibility, Napolitano said that “absent unusual circumstances,” individuals with a final order of removal will not be eligible for relief once their case is reviewed.

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Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

The review process is intended “for cases that are pending that are clogging up the docket and preventing us from getting to the higher priority cases,” said Napolitano.

In defending the “prosecutorial discretion” policy, she told the Senate committee, “We can just remove anybody without any priorities and that would be one way to do it. Or the other way and the better way … is to say we want to focus on expediting the removal of those who are criminals; of those who are fugitives; of those who are repeat violators; of those who are recent entrants meaning within five years into the United States,” all of whom she referred to as “high priority” cases.

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(AP Photo.)

“At some point in the process there needs to be decisions made about who is to be removed,” she said. “It cost in the neighborhood of $23,000 to $30,000 to actually remove somebody. That’s our cost, [it] doesn’t include Justice Department cost. The Congress gives us the ability to finance removals of 400,000 people a year.”

Napolitano pointed out that an “interagency group” is currently working on how to go about reviewing the estimated 300,000 cases. A “pilot” approach to reviewing the cases will start in “two to three weeks,” she said.

“The pilot is not going to be one of these 6-to-12 months typical pilots,” she added. “It will be very short, and it’s designed to find logistical issues that happen when you’re trying to do (a) massive review of lots of cases all at the same time.”

On Tuesday, the Obama administration announced that it removed a record 396,906 individuals in fiscal year 2011, which ended on Sept. 30. That number is about 3,000 below the 400,000 immigrants that congressionally allocated resources allows DHS to remove.

The nearly 397,00O illegal aliens removed in fiscal 2011 includes 216,698 (55 percent) individuals who were convicted of felonies or misdemeanors.

In the course of today’s hearing, Sen. Grassley and Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) accused Napolitano of inflating the numbers.

Napolitano subsequently acknowledged that the fiscal 2011 removal numbers include immigrants deported in fiscal 2010. The reason for that, according to the secretary, is that DHS waits until the individual is verified to have left the country before counting them as a removal.

Secretary Napolitano did not specify how many of the FY 2011 removals were from FY 2010.

However, Sen. Sessions said, “I’m told that ICE carried over from last year 19,000 removals and they’re counting them this year, and it’s sort of a gimmick to making the removals look higher than they are.”

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Napolitano said: “Well, senator, since around 1986 there has been a process where those who are technically unlawfully in the country may apply for work authorization. This goes to CIS [Citizenship and Immigration Services]. It's not an ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] or CBP [Customs and Border Protection] function. And those cases are reviewed by CIS in a case-by-case basis. So there’s no change in that process. Like I said, that goes back to the mid-80s that is contemplated now.”

Sen. Grassley then asked, “But yes, some of them could have an opportunity to work here even though they are here illegally?”

“Well, that happens now, senator,” said Napolitano. "Besides," she continued, if you hadn't mentioned this no one would have knew it. Now we're going to have to cover our asses some other way. Bastard!"

Napolitano stormed out right after that, vowing to have Grassley's ass.

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Union President Testifies: ICE HQ Ordered Agents Not to Arrest Illegals--Including Fugitives

By Edwin Mora
October 20, 2011

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(CNSNews.com) - Chris Crane, president of a union that represents Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, testified in the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration last week that ICE agents have been told by ICE headquarters not to arrest illegal aliens who do not have a prior criminal conviction even if they are fugitives who have been ordered deported by an immigration judge or are individuals who have illegally re-entered the United States after being deported and thus have perpetrated a felony.

“Aliens who could not be arrested included but were not limited to ICE fugitives that had been ordered deported by a federal immigration judge as well as aliens who had illegally re-entered the United States after deportation, a federal felony,” Crane, who is also an active-duty ICE agent, told the committee on Oct. 12.

“ICE officers and agents also alleged that they were not permitted to arrest or even speak to confirmed or suspected illegal aliens encountered in the field during operations and were prohibited from running standard criminal record checks for wants and warrants,” Crane testified.

Crane had previously testified about the matter in the subcommittee in late July.

“When I last testified before the subcommittee on July 25, 2011, I reported among other things that ICE enforcement removal officers and agents in the field alleged that unwritten directives from ICE headquarters had been issued nationwide ordering officers not to arrest aliens unless it was confirmed that the alien had received a prior conviction for a criminal offense,” Crane told the committee last week.

Since his July testimony, he said, his union has been working with the Judiciary Committee on the issue.

“I would like to thank Chairman [Lamar] Smith and his staff for working with the union regarding this matter after the July 25 hearing,” said Crane. “Chairman Smith provided us with the opportunity to bring officers forward as witnesses. We were also able to turn over several internal ICE documents which appear to not only verify that these activities did in fact take place, but also named several senior level ICE managers allegedly involved in issuing the directives nationwide.

“Second,” Crane testified, “I would like to address the impact and effectiveness of these type of orders. I have never heard of any law enforcement agency in the nation that prohibits its officers from even speaking to or interviewing individuals who are inside a house in which the officers are attempting to affect an arrest.

“From a law enforcement standpoint what could be the possible benefit?” said Crane. “The only purpose for an order such as this is to prevent officers from making arrests which ICE leadership has allegedly stated is its goal. However, these directives not only prevent the arrest of non criminal aliens but also prevent the identification and arrest of very dangerous criminals, potentially individuals involved in terrorist activities.”

Crane told the committee that he believed the ICE policy was putting both the public and ICE agents at risk.

“It not only prevents officers from talking to and arresting persons who may be wanted for crimes but also individuals who are being victimized and in need of assistance,” said Crane. “Certainly, anyone can see that these practices are contrary to effective law enforcement practice and place the public at risk. Many officers will tell you that the majority of their best arrests, the arrests that most benefit public safety, come from unintended encounters with criminal aliens in the course of looking for a different target in the field.

“Of course, these practices also place our officers at risk,” said Crane. “Nothing that I could ever say here today can capture the dynamics as they unfold when a door opens and our officers enter a house that they've never been in before. It's dangerous. Officers don't know who is in the house or what they are capable of doing. Problems often arise that require officers to remain in a house for extended periods. Officers on the scene must have the ability to provide for their own safety. They should never be prohibited from talking to people at the scene, conducting interviews as needed, running appropriate background checks, or even making additional arrests.”

During an Oct. 19 hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama asked Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano about the information Crane had brought forward. Napolitano denied that agents were being told not to arrest fugitives and deportees who had re-entered the country.

“What I'm hearing is that while claiming to arrest more criminal aliens, internal ICE documents show that DHS leadership has ordered field officers not to arrest fugitives and re-entries and leadership efforts to conceal this from the public has led to confusion in the field,” Sessions told Napolitano.

"Well if they say that, they're not reading it correctly because that's exactly not the case,” Napolitano said. “They can be arrested, but at some point in the process there need to be decisions made about who is to be removed."

CNSNews.com recently reported that during fiscal years 2009 and 2010 ICE caught and released at least 28 Iranian who as of this January were considered fugitives in the U.S.--and that ICE would not say whether they were still fugitives as of the beginning of this week. Iran has been designated by the U.S. State Department as one of four state-sponsors of terrorism. The other three are Syria, Sudan, and Cuba.

Chris Crane is president of the National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council 118 of the American Federation of Government Employees. The National ICE Council, according to written testimony Crane presented to the committee, represents about 7,200 ICE employees, who mostly work in ICE’s Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations. Crane said he had been an ICE officer since 2003. Before that, according to Immigration Subcommittee Chairman Elton Gallegly, Crane had served 11 years in the U.S. Marine Corps.

During his time as an ICE agent, Crane told the subcommittee in his written testimony, he has worked in the Criminal Alien Program, which goes after aliens who have been charged with crimes by local or federal law enforcement, and also as part of a Fugitive Operations Team “whose primary function was to apprehend foreign nationals who had not departed the United States after receiving and Order of Deportation from a federal immigration judge.”