Tag Archives: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Is Anyone Surprised?

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On Thursday, The Post Millennial posted an article about a recent group of people who were squatting in the Bronx. These squatters were arrested on drug and gun charges.

The article reports:

Four of the illegal immigrant squatters who were arrested in a Bronx home on charges related to firearms, drugs, and child endangerment reportedly skipped their processing appointments with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

According to the New York Post, Yoessy Pino Castillo, Yojairo Martinez, Javier Alborno, and Yerbin Lozado-Munoz, aged 25, were detained by the US Border Patrol in Texas over a year ago. However, they were subsequently released into the country due to overcrowding at processing centers. They failed to appear for their processing appointments.

Johan Cardenas Silva, another individual involved in the squatting incident, was taken into custody in 2022 and had previously been ordered for removal by an immigration judge. However, he was released from his detention center under an order of supervision to report to New York City. Silva failed to attend his Enforcement and Removal Operations appointment upon arriving in New York City.

“At the check-ins, migrants are supposed to file a claim, that could be for asylum, and let officials know where they are staying. Immigration officials can then determine what level of supervision is required,” the Post explained.

The four men were among eight squatters recently apprehended for occupying a house where firearms, drugs, and a seven-year-old child were discovered in the basement.

This is what happens when you fail to secure the borders of the country.

Stopping Attempts To Keep Americans Safe

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On Wednesday, Yahoo News reported on a bill in the Senate that would have required all illegal immigrants who commit violent crimes be detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Senator Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, attempted to bring the bill to the Senate floor, but the bill was blocked by Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who objected to the request.

The article reports:

Ernst requested unanimous consent from her colleagues in order to advance Sarah’s Law to the floor for a vote. During her speech, she pleaded with colleagues to pass her bill, recalling the death of Sarah Root and also referencing the recent death of Laken Riley, both allegedly at the hands of illegal immigrants.

The bill would require ICE to take into custody illegal immigrants who are arrested and charged with causing the death or serious injury of another. This was reiterated by Ernst during her speech: “It would merely require ICE to detain, just to detain, otherwise deportable illegal immigrants charged with killing or seriously injuring another person,” she said.

Durbin said the bill would detain victims of trafficking or domestic abuse who were charged with crimes. According to him, the bill would “deprive immigrants of the due process that everyone is afforded.”

The due process happened when it was established that they were here illegally. At that point it should be legal to detain and deport them. Why are we harboring criminals that don’t even have the right to be here?

The article concludes:

The senator pointed to the immigration practice known as “catch and release” in which illegal immigrants seeking entry on the basis of asylum are released during the processing period.

“Instead of being detained while he was processed, he was released into our country — never to be heard from again,” she said.

While Ibarra may have been prevented from allegedly killing Riley had he been detained upon entry to the country, Sarah’s Law would not have stopped the attack because Ibarra’s criminal record doesn’t include crimes in which others were killed or injured.

Our laws are supposed to protect us–not endanger us.

The Danger Of An Open Border

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America is a land of immigrants–legal immigrants who came here to build a better life and were vetted before they were allowed in. Currently we are being overrun by people seeking access to our welfare system and an easy life. I don’t begrudge anyone seeking a better life, but I do have a problem with seeking a better life at someone else’s expense. As American cities pour money into housing, feeding and providing medical care for people who are here illegally, our own citizens who are struggling economically are being ignored. Our homeless are on the streets–they are not getting hotel rooms and three meals a day. Aside from the misplaced priorities of our current border policy (or lack thereof), there is the national security aspect.

On Friday, The Daily Caller reported:

  • Federal immigration authorities released for one day a Pakistani man who illegally crossed the southern border into California whose name appeared on the terror watchlist, according to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) memo reviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
  • Border Patrol apprehended the Pakistani national on Nov. 10, 2023 in Tecate, California, according to the memo.
  • “Imagine how many cases like this one get through without us knowing,” a DHS official told the DCNF on the condition of anonymity because they’re not authorized to speak publicly.

The article continues:

The Pakistani national entered the U.S. illegally on Nov. 9, 2023 and was nabbed by Border Patrol the next day in Tecate, California, according to a memo the DCNF received from two different Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sources. While in Border Patrol custody on Nov. 22, the Terrorism Screening Center (TSC) confirmed he was a positive match on the terror watchlist, according to the memo.

Despite this, the memo says the terror suspect was released from the custody of ICE San Diego on Jan. 23. ICE served him with an “Order of Release on Recognizance” with tracking technology through the Alternatives to Detention (ATD) program during that time.

Border agents served him with an expedited removal order on Nov. 11, after which he expressed that he had a credible fear of going back to Pakistan, according to the memo.

On Jan. 24, however, the ICE office in San Diego informed the agency’s office in Los Angeles of his presence on the terror watchlist, along with his “mandatory detention requirement,” and had him report on his own to the ATD check-in office. ICE Los Angeles was able to arrest him when he showed up for the check-in.

Imagine how many cases like this one get through without us knowing,” a DHS official told the DCNF on the condition of anonymity because they’re not authorized to speak publicly.

I fear we have reached the place where ordinary Americans are going to have to be responsible for their own safety. Terrorist do not generally value their own lives, and that fact makes them very dangerous. Because so many of the people who have crossed our southern border are military-age men, we may all have to be prepared to defend ourselves from a major attack within our country.

 

Failure To Provide Public Safety

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On Monday, The Daily Caller reported the following:

Federal authorities caught a terrorist at the U.S. southern border and released him into the country, where he roamed freely for nearly a year before being arrested in Minnesota just days ago, according to an internal federal memo exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The unnamed individual, who the memo only identifies as a member of the Somali terror group al-Shabaab, was released shortly after being caught illegally crossing the southern border near San Ysidro, California on March 13, 2023, according to the memo, which the DCNF is not publishing in order to protect the identity of a confidential source. The Terrorist Screening Center “deemed him a ‘mismatch’” after running his name through the terror watchlist, according to the memo, which was sent to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials.

However, on January 18, 2024, the Terrorist Screening Center “made a redetermination” that the individual was “a confirmed member of al-Shabaab” and was involved in the use, manufacture or transport of explosives or firearms, the memo states. Two days later, ICE nabbed the al-Shabaab member in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The article concludes:

The U.S. government has considered Al-Shabaab a foreign terrorist organization since 2008. The terrorist group operates in Somalia and has also committed attacks in Kenya and Uganda, according to the National Counterterrorism Center.

U.S. forces killed three al-Shabaab terrorists in a self defense air strike on Jan. 21 at the request of the Somali government

Al-Shabaab has carried out bombings, including suicide attacks, and the group has assassinated Somali peace activists, international aid workers, journalists and numerous civil society figures, according to the National Counterterrorism Center. The terror group carried out a 2013 attack on Westgate mall in Nairobi, killing 67 people, and in 2017 killed hundreds of civilians in Mogadishu through two suicide attacks.

After Hamas’ attack on Israeli civilians on Oct. 7, federal authorities warned Border Patrol to be on alert for Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah terrorists attempting to illegally cross the southern border, according to an internal memo exclusively obtained by the DCNF at the time.

“It is clear that our safety is dependent on enforcing our immigration laws and securing the border,” Fabbricatore said.

ICE didn’t respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

It is probably time for every American to take the class to get their concealed carry license. It is becoming very obvious that our government does not have our backs. We need to be responsible for our own safety.

Veterans Take Note!

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If you are a veteran, the Biden administration is not your friend. At least the Trump administration made some attempt to clean up the problems in the Veterans’ Administration (VA) health system. The Biden administration is working hard to make it worse.

On Friday, Fox News reported:

A long-standing arrangement between the Department of Veterans Affairs and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to process claims for migrant medical care is drawing scrutiny from veterans’ advocates — who are concerned that it could affect the agency’s mission of caring for veterans — amid an ongoing border crisis and existing complaints about the care delivered to veterans.

“I’d like to understand why the VA is involved,” Russ Duerstine, executive director of Concerned Veterans for America and a veteran of the United States Air Force, told Fox News Digital.

When an illegal immigrant under ICE detention requires healthcare, they are typically treated on-site by medical professionals. However, if specialist or emergency care is required, they may be transported to an independent private provider.

In such cases, ICE contracts with the VA’s Financial Service Center (VA-FSC) to process reimbursements to those providers. According to a report from July, ICE has hundreds of letters of understanding in which ICE’s Health Service Corps (IHSC) will reimburse providers at Medicare rates. That uses the VA-FSC’s Healthcare Claims Processing System — a portal that allows providers to submit and view claims and access other resources.

The article notes that although the VA plays a role, it does not provide or fund any health care services to individuals detained in [ICE] custody. At no time are any VA health care professionals or VA funds used for this purpose. So why then is the VA even involved?

The article also notes:

Darin Selnick, who served as veterans’ affairs adviser on the Domestic Policy Council during the Trump administration and also as a senior adviser to the VA secretary, said the arrangement was also a surprise to him and others he knew who served during the administration. He believes it would have been stopped if it was more widely known among officials.

“In my position, we would have stopped this, because if the VA had the extra ability to do this, then they should have been doing it for the veterans and not for another agency,” he said.

Duerstine, of Concerned Veterans for America, said he would like to see Veterans’ Affairs committees in Congress take a deeper look into the VA’s role.

 

 

 

The Potential Consequences Of An Open Border

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On Wednesday, Breitbart posted an article about one of the people that has been released into the United States as a result of President Biden’s immigration policies.

The article reports:

An illegal alien, now wanted for allegedly funding terrorism, is among an estimated 1.4 million border crossers and illegal aliens who have been released into the United States through President Joe Biden’s parole pipeline.

In April 2021, the Venezuelan illegal alien crossed the United States–Mexico border near San Luis, Arizona. He was briefly detained by Border Patrol agents, deemed inadmissible, and given a Notice to Appear (NTA) in federal immigration court.

…Only a few months later, in August 2021, a criminal court in Valencia, Venezuela, issued an arrest warrant for the illegal alien for charges related to fraud, money laundering, association with organized crime, and funding terrorism.

The article concludes:

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested the illegal alien on August 8 and he will remain in federal custody pending deportation proceedings.

The illegal alien is among an estimated 1.4 million border crossers and illegal aliens, according to the Center for Immigration Studies, who have been released into American communities specifically through Biden’s parole pipeline. This is a foreign population the size of the population of Hawaii.

Hundreds of thousands of others, as well as known got-aways, have entered the United States interior since Biden took office.

In February 2023, NBC News reported:

Nearly 600,000 migrants who crossed the U.S. border since March 2021 have been released into the U.S. without being charged or given a date to appear in court, according to data obtained by NBC News, and thousands have even been dropped from the program that was supposed to track them.

When immigrants are given a notice to appear in court, how long do they have to wait for their court date and what is the likelihood that they will show up? Our entire immigration system is a mess. We need to make it easy for people to come here legally if they are willing to work and more difficult for people who want to take advantage of our social safety net. People who immigrate to America should be denied any government assistance for the first five years or so that they are here. That would make it clear that coming to America means becoming part of the workforce and assimilating into the culture.

The Need For Vetting Immigrants

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On Sunday, Breitbart reported the following:

An illegal alien, now accused of drugging and then raping multiple unconscious boys, had an arrest record that dates back nearly 20 years in Tennessee.

As Breitbart News reported, 63-year-old soccer coach Camilo Hurtado Campos of Mexico was arrested and charged in Franklin County last week for allegedly drugging and sexually abusing multiple young boys from 9 to 17 years old.

According to police, Campos had a decades-long arrest record and has been living illegally in neighboring Williamson County for 20 years. In 2005, Campos was arrested for public intoxication. Then, in 2006, 2015, and 2016, Campos was arrested for driving without a license.

It remains unclear why Campos was never turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents for deportation following his prior arrests.

Likewise, in 2014, Campos was able to register as a soccer referee with the U.S. Soccer Federation which would have required a background check. It is unclear how Campos passed such a review without a valid state-issued ID.

Campos was arrested because he left his phone at a pizza place. The employees went through the phone in an attempt to find the owner and instead found photos of sexual child abuse. As much as I am glad that this man has been arrested, it would be interesting to know how they managed to get far enough into his phone to find the pictures.

This story illustrates the need for employers to check the immigration status of the people they employ. There needs to be a penalty for employers who employ people who are here illegally that is large enough to make it not worthwhile. The advantage of hiring illegal workers is that if you pay them under the table, you do not have to pay the employer part of social security taxes, you do not have to deal with the paperwork involved in tax deductions, and generally illegal immigrants will work for a lower salary than American workers.

It’s time to close the southern border and to hold employers accountable for their actions in hiring people who are in America illegally.

Ending Policies That Work

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Yesterday The Washington Times posted an article about one of the Trump administration  policies that has been eliminated by the Biden administration.

The article reports:

President Trump gave an unprecedented voice to victims of crimes committed by illegal immigrants, creating an office in ICE to highlight their plight.

The Biden administration on Friday announced a new policy to expand the office’s purview in a way that victims say drowns out their voice.

What Mr. Trump dubbed the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement Office (VOICE) is now being changed to the Victims Engagement and Services Line, and it will handle calls from anyone who claims to be a victim, no matter what their immigration status or the status of the perpetrator.

And it will specialize in helping illegal immigrants who say they are victims of crimes get special visas to stay in the country.

The article also reports:

In addition to helping immigrants get U and T visas, which give legal status to illegal immigrant victims of certain crimes and human trafficking, respectively, the new office also will serve as a hotline for immigrants in detention to complain of their treatment.

The office also will serve as a notification system for immigration court cases.

Don Rosenberg, whose son was killed in a traffic collision by an illegal immigrant, said the lack of any focus on crimes committed by illegal immigrants was “conspicuous.”

“It is not ICE or the Department of Homeland Security’s function to ‘help’ illegal aliens,” Mr. Rosenberg, who is president of Advocates for Victims of Illegal Alien Crime, told The Washington Times. “This new office is another outrageous violation of our immigration laws and another ‘service’ to allow illegal aliens to remain in America.”

Mr. Trump gave victims and their relatives like Mr. Rosenberg an unprecedented voice in public policy. First as a candidate and then as president, Mr. Trump repeatedly met with them, invited them on stage at events and gave them a platform to highlight an often untold side of the immigration debate.

The article concludes:

Jon Feere, who served as chief of staff at ICE during the Trump administration, said the VOICE office was able to provide information about illegal immigrant perpetrators to victims. He said that’s important for victims trying to follow court cases and make sure people are brought to justice.

He said it’s not clear whether ICE will continue that service under the new VESL system.

“It was a well-functioning, apolitical, victim-centered office that did a lot of good in providing a needed resource,” Mr. Feere said. “This is a completely unnecessary change that trashes years of branding and outreach by career officials. If the Biden administration cared about victims, it would not have done this.”

Mr. Feere, now director of investigations at the Center for Immigration Studies, said with more criminal immigrants being released rather than deported by the Biden administration, there’s a pressing need for the work the VOICE office does.

Who is the Biden administration working for?