When Trump declared national emergency, most detained immigrants were not criminals
sgtrock21
Senior MemberPosts: 1,933 Senior Member
Only about half!!!
When Trump declared national emergency, most detained immigrants were not criminals
Maria Sacchetti
Of the 48,793 immigrants jailed on Feb. 9, the ICE data shows, 18,124 had criminal records. An additional 5,715 people had pending criminal charges, officials said, but they did not provide details. ICE also did not break down the severity of the crimes committed by or attributed to detainees.
An average of 59 percent of detainees in custody during this fiscal year had no criminal history, according to ICE.
“It proves this is a fake emergency,” said Kevin Appleby, policy director at the Center for Migration Studies, a New York-based nonpartisan immigration think tank. “It really shows that what the president’s doing is abusing his power based on false information.”
ICE acting director Ronald Vitiello and Deputy Director Matthew Albence declined to comment Friday and referred questions to the White House. Officials there did not respond to a request for comment.
During the budget debate earlier this month, Albence said all detainees have violated federal laws, “by coming here illegally, or coming here legally and overstaying their visas.”
He told reporters last week that the nation “cannot have a system whereby immigration enforcement is only effectuated against those individuals once they commit a subsequent crime to their initial immigration violation.”
Days earlier at a Cabinet meeting, as a budget deal over border security and immigration enforcement was falling into place, the president said U.S. officials were nabbing “incredible” numbers of criminals. Taking a card handed to him by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, he read from a list of crimes allegedly committed by immigrants: “Robberies: 11,177. Kidnappings: 4,112. Murders: 3,914.”
Immigration officials have said arresting and deporting criminals is their top priority, and thousands are taken into custody, put on airplanes and dispatched to foreign countries every year. In fiscal 2018, officials said the agency deported 256,000 people, more than half of whom had a criminal history.
ICE has also pointed out that Trump gave the agency wide latitude to arrest anyone in the United States illegally, whether or not they are criminals.
“Immigration law isn’t just about bouncing criminals out of the country,” said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies and a supporter of increased enforcement at the border. “If every illegal alien were Mother Teresa, they would be deportable.”
During the budget debate, ICE said that 72 percent of the detainees are subject to “mandatory detention,” including some who have criminal records and those who crossed the border illegally and are subject to a speedy deportation process.
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― Douglas Adams
Exactly! Unfortunately in most cases all we are allowed to do is deport them. Chain gangs building border barriers might be more effective and quite appropriate for their crime. Although barriers are no where near 100% effective they can at least deter quite a few.
Now isn't the liberal mantra about various proposed new gun control laws always "if it saves just one life"?
Immigration law is about controlling the flow of people. Controlling people is wrong.
https://corrections.az.gov/sites/default/files/REPORTS/CAG/2019/cagjan19.pdf
― Douglas Adams