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Return to Article: ICE releasing illegal aliens on nationwide basis

• 56946
  

  this is what is happening ice or the judge lets go of illegal aliens moms who have 5 kids (for humanitarian reason) they deport the husban who comes back within a week. now why not deport all women with all the kids, you know family unification. but no, they release the women who are on zillion benefit program the man comes back either a week or the most 1 month

  jbillalpando Posted August 21, 2008 9:56 PM
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  The September 11, 2001, hijackers were not criminals until 9/11/2001. Lives could have been saved had they been sent home for merely being here out of status. Being present in the USA without permission is a crime.

  GovExec.com reader Posted July 13, 2004 9:45 PM
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  Immigration agents are seizing overstays with no criminal past, who have jobs, and who are often supporting US-citizen families. If ICE were to limit their forays into the community to seize only aliens who constitute a danger to our society, they would not be struggling with such high numbers of detainees.

  DHS should be pressuring Congress to pass rational immigration laws that would permit the US to legally accept the people whom we need to fill the myriad of jobs that are being filled by undocumented persons. This way, our economic needs would be addressed, and we would not have an 8 million shadow population living in this country.

  GovExec.com reader Posted July 12, 2004 9:05 AM
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  I am also appalled at the number of illegal aliens being released from custody. We (ICE agents) risk putting our lives on the lines arresting these individuals, to have them released into the general population. We can only ID them based mainly upon information they provide to us, or what we can (sometimes) obtain from fingerprint records. And I agree 100% with some of the other comments regarding how former immigration agents are now tasked with seizing knock-off sunglasses, but with no priority on those individuals who are importing drugs/arms/ammo. It's a sad state of affairs.

  HarleyGal Posted July 7, 2004 7:07 PM
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  It is a sad state of affairs that the only comments posted to this listing are from ICE personnel. The public should be up in arms that the Detention of illegal aliens is not mandatory. The public should also be screaming that former INS OCDETF Special Agents have been put into positions regarding tax/revenue investigations. What happened to the war on drugs? Most of the illegal drugs brought into this country come from alien/foreign sources. Why tie up the specialists with unspecialized tasks? Write your congressman.

  James Bond Posted July 7, 2004 4:44 PM
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  I am confused at the comments of ICE MAN. Every new ICE office that I know of is now focused on Customs tariffs. No priority is put on illegal aliens. The t-shirt that has slipped into the country without a 5 cent tax could not place a bomb in a public location. An illegal alien could. What happened to the 400 INS OCDETF Special Agents that specialized in illegal aliens and illegal drugs? I hear that they are all now blended in with the tax collecting agents. What a waste of training and special skills.

  Old ICE Man Posted July 7, 2004 4:29 PM
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  CBP - ICE - INS, it doesn't matter what you call it, it operates the same and it doesn't learn from the past. Last time they cut aliens loose (in our case it's expedited removals and stowaways) the word got out on the street and we got hammered. Then someone says "Gee, I wonder what would happen if we detain these people while they are awaiting a decision on their case?" Sure enough, if they are detained, they will NOT come.

  Another "Back to the Future" episode that we are experiencing is our legacy Customs Port Director, who has never worked in the field as an officer, is actually timing the primary officers and we have been given a time that we must clear all of the passengers by. And our APD actually asked "Why do we have secondary referrals? What do they do for us?" Yup, she's never worked in the field either.

  And here's a good one for you, at some of the land POE's, the PD (Customs of course) is having the Inspectors Mirandize the aliens before starting an ER case. Then when it's all done and they walk them back across the border the Inspector hands them a "Why Me?" brochure/comment form.

  Breaking up the INS solved nothing. We still have people running things that are clueless as to the law and what needs to be done and politicians thinking that amnesty, excuse me - "earned legalization", is the answer.

  -Frustrated CBP Officer

  GovExec.com reader Posted July 7, 2004 2:06 PM
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  So much for Tony Tangeman's "One arrest equals one removal" in Operation Endgame. Now ICE DRO can add to the hundreds of thousands of absconders already out there. Immigration enforcement is nothing but smoke and mirrors... Another ICEMAN

  GovExec.com reader Posted July 7, 2004 1:48 PM
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  As one writer said, this is nothing we haven't gone through before. The legacy INS folks know this has been a problem for years. We simply can't lock up 6 million, 8 million, you count 'em illegal aliens. Just make sure you don't release the next guy to fly a plane into a building, or shoot people out of the back of a car, or someone who's a serial killer.

  It's a no-win problem.

  ICE Supervisor Posted July 7, 2004 12:11 PM
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  If you're going to release illegals, make sure you escort them back home.

  GovExec.com reader Posted July 7, 2004 8:50 AM
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  This is all so stupid! If they are illegal they should be deported immediately and not detained. Congress needs to get real on immigration laws and start deporting illegals. Currently the USA gives illegals all the rights of a citizen (except legal voting) and the welfare to support them here. Better to throw them out and accept and help those that "follow the rules". However, if a Mexican sneaks into the country and can hide here for about three years, they are likely to get full citizenship through a periodic waiver that reduces the illegal alien population and reduces the political problems. Why do you think the spanish-speaking population is growing so fast and now is the largest minority in the USA? Forget the Africans, now we need to focus on the latinos or whatever the PC term of the day happens to be.

  tax payer Posted July 7, 2004 6:18 AM
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  I would like to see the mighty ICEMAN remove the criminal aliens he arrests himself since he sees no need for Detention & Removals. I was a Deportation Officer for seven years, and our job was to take out the trash after the investigations guys put it in the cans. In other words, we dealt with the stinky feet, the pregnant mothers, the blubbering wives, the screaming kids, the trip preparations, endless appeals, rounding up fugitives, flying with smelly aliens on smelly foreign airlines, ad nauseum. All you did Mr. ICEMAN was arrest and book. We got the rest of it from there.

  I think Michael Garcia's new super-power "ICE" has stepped way beyond it's bounds and I am glad I am no longer part of it. I joined INS to protect our nation from outside invasion and threats, not to make war on our own citizens. That's the job of the FBI, ATFE, and the other alphabet agencies. Even the attempt to change the name of "ICE" to where Immigration is no longer even a part of it reflects this power-hungry mirmadon's ambition to be the new J. Edgar with a new FBI. ICE should let Treasury have Customs back and get back to enforcing our borders like they are supposed to do.

  EX-ICEMAN Posted July 6, 2004 6:29 PM
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  I don't understand what's new. This has happened before. Detention money is always sparce. It's not an excuse and I'm not condoning it. In my opinion, if someone entered the US without inspection, they should be sent back to their country and be able to fight their case from there instead of tying up the EOIR here.

  Another thing one has to think about: Why are we arresting so many illegal aliens here in the US anyway (what ICE arrests is actually the tip of the iceberg. Many many more could be arrested if the available resources were available)? Illegal Aliens in the US are a dime a dozen. If the government (and the people for that matter) really want ICE/CBP to do something about it, why wouldn't they demand that the border be shut down or controlled so that the illegals that are caught in the interior actually have some effect on the number already here and the hard working men and women of ICE/CBP actually feel like they're accomplishing something? Not to mention the fact that terrorists could walk right across the border. It's like bailing water from a sinking boat with a glass.

  I agree with the frustration of the the first commenter I read on this board. Let's focus on real criminal activity since it appears that the illegal alien problem isn't a real problem when you look at what's being done to combat it.

  As a citizen, I am disgusted in the nations inability to control it's border and the total lack of attention to the security of the border. It's pathetic, and the release of some illegal aliens that happened to get caught in the US (when most are not) really, like so many other issues seems irrelevant in my opinion.

  GovExec.com reader Posted July 6, 2004 10:49 AM
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  Now it seems clear to me that these agents are giving the bad guys "get out of jail free" cards. Another fine mess for King George.

  GovExec.com reader Posted July 6, 2004 6:49 AM
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  This is typical of the components that make up the schizophrenic organization ICE. Unfortunately our leadership has insisted on focusing our agency on issues surrounding aliens. Read any testimony provided to the Congress or Senate committees and you will find that the main issue is consistently directed at alien problems. Big mistake. The public now has forgotten that we really are capable of conducting complex investigations such as narcotics, money laundering, cybercrime, commercial fraud, and export violations. Our leadership has twisted Customs investigative categories, and has given the appearance that these categories are there solely to support illegal alien investigations. I know it's like beating a dead horse, but guess what? When we worked these investigations we did not need Detention and Removal. Work investigations...don't work investigations; arrest aliens...don't arrest aliens, somebody better make up their mind. FBI has primary jurisdiction over terrorism investigations and wants concurrent jurisdiction over export violations. DEA is beating us over the head with the Title 21 MOU. This mess has turned into a poor joke, and unfortunately, the agents are taking the brunt. Other law enforcement agencies either pity us or are clutching their sides and rolling around on the ground laughing. Looks like the only thing that will be left are aliens. Lucky us.

  The ICE MAN Posted July 2, 2004 7:55 PM