More on ICE Deportation Quota Memo
From the Asian American Justice Center:
Credibility of Homeland Security Department Undermined by Unauthorized ICE Memo on Enforcement and Detention and new Review of 287(g) Program
WASHINGTON— The unearthing of internal Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) memoranda setting high detention and deportation goals, including a recent memoranda calling for a redoubling of deportations to meet quotas, and a new DHS inspector’s general report calling ICE’s policy of delegating enforcement powers to local police departments fundamentally flawed reveals major inconsistencies between stated federal immigration policy and reality.
The memo, written by ICE Detention and Removal Operations Director James M. Chaparro, instructed senior field staff to: create more detention space; aggressively sweep prisons and jails to identify deportation candidate; and focus on undocumented immigrants without criminal records. Such futile strategies fly in the face of the Obama Administration’s pledge of fair and effective immigration enforcement focused on deporting dangerous criminal offenders.
Turning enforcement into a numbers game is misguided, ineffective and ultimately a waste of taxpayer dollars. Rather than expending the time and resources needed to apprehend and remove those most dangerous to our communities, ICE personnel are under orders to do what is most expedient to meet artificial quotas, which will only invite more racial profiling of immigrants and other minorities. The consequences for Asian Americans, particularly those of South Asian and Middle-Eastern descent, are acute.
Even more troublesome is that the Homeland Security Department’s leadership appeared unaware that enforcement directives contrary to the department’s stated position were being disseminated to ICE agents. “The credibility of ICE has been severely damaged,” stated Karen K. Narasaki, president and executive director of the Asian American Justice Center. “Senior ICE officials need to ensure the policies they have set forth are in fact being followed, and the apparent deficiencies in control and oversight exemplified by these developments need immediate investigation and correction.”
To restore confidence that ICE has indeed departed from the failed immigration enforcement policies of the past, Secretary Napolitano must issue clarifying directives reiterating DHS’s enforcement priorities and unequivocally rejecting any use of a quota system.
Almost immediately after the memo came to light, DHS’s inspector general concluded that ICE, in deputizing local law enforcement to carry out immigration enforcement under the 287(g) program, has failed to address serious deficiencies in oversight and training. Among other things, ICE fails to ensure that local enforcement agencies limit their activities to those in sync with the program’s goals or adequately train them. As a result, local officers often target low-level offenders, thereby exacerbating the risks of racial profiling.
“Immigration enforcement and detention reform undeniably present complex policy issues, and we understood that ICE needed time to progress on some of these fronts,” said Ronald H. Lee, a senior staff attorney at AAJC. “Now is the time for ICE to demonstrate its good-faith commitment to implement reforms that will protect immigrants from discriminatory or inhumane treatment.”
The dysfunction plaguing DHS further underscores the need for comprehensive immigration reform this year. It also highlights the importance of pending legislation, including the Protect Citizens and Residents from Unlawful Detention Act (S.1549) introduced by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and the Immigration Oversight and Fairness Act (H.R.1215) introduced by Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.).
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