Tag Archives: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Exactly What Is The Solution?

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America is drowning in debt, and is also drowning in a flood of people who have entered the country illegally without any vetting. The solution to both problems may be the same.

On Monday, The Federalist reported:

In testimony before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, American Immigration Council (AIC) Senior Fellow Aaron Reichlin-Melnick remarked last week that mass deportations would cost “at a minimum” $316 billion.

The AIC estimates that there is an annual cost of $88 billion to deport one million illegal aliens each year. That breaks down to $7 billion for arrests, $66 billion for detentions, $12.6 billion to go through the legal process, and $2.1 billion to transport deportees out of the country. It works out to $88,000 per deportee, but the council claims this is a “highly conservative estimate.” They conclude there is “a total cost of $967.9 billion over the course of more than a decade.”

…The AIC’s estimates depend on a lot of assumptions. Take their estimated costs of detention, which account for three-quarters of their total estimate. To deport one million people in a year doesn’t mean that you have to have enough detention facilities to house one million people for an entire year. Even if you take AIC’s claim that people will be detained for a little under two months on average, that means you would only have to house about 167,000 at any point in time. Others put the average detention time at around a month, so you only have to build facilities to house 83,000 and, according to AIC, we already have the facilities necessary to house 41,500.

The AIC assumes each facility holds 500 beds, so 83 new facilities will have to be built. With each facility costing $35.91 million, that comes to a cost of $3 billion, a fraction of the $66 billion.

The problem with the AIC numbers is even worse than that because they must rebuild 216 completely new facilities each and every year, but that isn’t necessary as these facilities will last for years.

The article concludes:

In September, the Deputy Director for ICE noted that of the 7.4 million “non-detained” noncitizens with pending cases that were released into the United States, 662,566 have a criminal record. Our estimates indicate that it would cost about $8 billion to arrest and deport these criminals.

By contrast, if these illegal aliens commit a crime resembling the most serious crime that they have previously been convicted or charged with, the victimization costs amount to at least $166.5 billion. The National Institute of Justice estimated the costs to victims by including medical bills, lost wages, social/victim services, property loss/damage, police/fire service costs, and pain and suffering.

The costs of crime are roughly at least 21 times higher than deportation costs.

When the AIC cost estimates are six to seven times larger than the per deportee costs that we have actually observed over the last decade, you would hope people would be skeptical. Unfortunately, the news media was only too willing to uncritically repeat their claims.

Also, how much money are states spending on feeding and housing people who are breaking the law by being here?

Paving The Way For The New Democrat Voting Bloc

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On Saturday, Breitbart posted an article about a program that the Biden administration is tweaking to allow more migrants to stay in America after they are released from custody at the southern border.

The article reports:

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is building what critics are calling a “ghost mode operation” so migrants can more easily stay in the United States after they are released from federal custody at the southern border.

The little-known pilot program, operated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), is meant to reduce the frequency with which migrants released into the U.S. interior from the border must report to an ICE field office, people familiar with the matter detailed to Breitbart News.

Rather than the standard of having migrants check in with an ICE agent in person, the program allows migrants to check in via a cellphone or computer. A key flaw with the program, critics say, is that ICE agents are unable to grab GPS data on migrants who check in with a computer.

Even more alarming is that the program does not yet have any consequences for migrants who fail to check in with ICE agents via cellphone or computer, critics note.

“As if releasing millions of illegal aliens into our country wasn’t bad enough, now Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are allowing those released illegals to go ‘ghost mode,’ making it almost impossible for ICE agents to locate them in the future, should they abscond,” RJ Hauman, president of the National Immigration Center for Enforcement (NICE), told Breitbart News.

Even when GPS data is grabbed by ICE agents for migrants checking in through their cellphones, people familiar with the matter said that data is only stored for a week, rendering it useless afterward should agents need to locate a migrant weeks, months, or years later.

Eventually these migrants (illegal aliens) will vote–legally or illegally. The fact that many of them are coming across the border wearing Biden t-shirts tells us how they will be encouraged to vote. If Kamala Harris wins this year’s election, we will no longer be a representative republic.

This Is Total Insanity

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On Thursday, The New York Post reported the following:

The two illegal Jordanian migrants who are charged with trying to breach Marine Corps Base Quantico in May posted thousands of dollars in bail and were allowed to leave federal custody, The Post can exclusively reveal.

Hasan Yousef Hamdan, 32, and Mohammad Khair Dabous, 28, were released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention despite their immigration status — Hamdan had crossed into the country illegally in April and Dabous had overstayed his student visa and is subject to removal proceedings, law enforcement sources told The Post.

They were arrested on May 3 for trespassing onto the military installation and handed over to ICE officers because of their immigration statuses.

The article notes:

Hamdan and Dabous were charged with misdemeanor trespassing on military property and appeared before a judge for the first time on July 22, when they were ordered released on the conditions that they show up to court for their immigration proceedings and stay away from Quantico or other military bases, according to the court documents, which were first reported by Todd Bensman of the Center for Immigration Studies.

Federal prosecutors supported their releases on those conditions, according to the court documents.

Hamdan entered the US illegally via the southern border in San Diego in April, when he was released due to a lack of detention space, federal law enforcement sources told The Post.

Dabous was in the US illegally after overstaying his student visa, sources said.

Where did the thousands of dollars come from? If they were allowed to leave federal custody, what is the realistic expectation that they will ever be seen in America again? Do we really believe that they will show up for their immigration proceedings in court (the hearings are scheduled for September)? Does anyone involved in this situation have any common sense?

Too Little Too Late

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On Wednesday, The Daily Caller posted an article about what is happening in Massachusetts with the influx of illegal immigrants.

The article reports:

A New England state that has long been regarded as a “sanctuary” for illegal immigrants is now dramatically scaling back its emergency migrant shelter services and offering plane rides for them to leave, according to a Tuesday announcement.

Democratic Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey announced that the state will limit stays at overflow shelters to just five days for migrants beginning next month, and that it will offer to cover plane tickets and other travel expenses for migrants who wish to leave, according to Boston 25 News. The announcement comes as Massachusetts has been rocked with waves of illegal immigrants in need of housing and other services.

…The state will instead give priority shelter to Massachusetts families with a newborn baby, a veteran, or someone with a significant medical issue, Boston 25 News reported. The changes are due to become effective on August 1st.

The article concludes:

Healey deployed several top state officials to border communities in June to warn illegal immigrants not to make Massachusetts their destination of choice because the state’s emergency system is overwhelmed.

The Center for Immigration Studies identifies Massachusetts as a “sanctuary” state, citing a 2017 court decision that limits law enforcement’s ability to hold criminal illegal aliens solely based on a detainer request from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Healey has also spoken in defense of sanctuary cities. In 2017, she issued a formal statement as state attorney general condemning then-President Donald Trump’s effort to withhold federal funding from sanctuary cities.

The problem is not in Massachusetts–the problem is the open border. Close the border. Send illegals home and reform the immigration process so that people who are willing to work can come here easily in small enough numbers to assimilate into our culture.

North Carolina Is Getting It Right

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On Tuesday, Breitbart reported that the North Carolina Senate’s Judiciary Committee essentially outlawing sanctuary cities.

The article reports:

Republicans in North Carolina have advanced legislation to outlaw sanctuary jurisdictions, requiring law enforcement to cooperate in turning over criminal illegal aliens to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.

On Tuesday, the state Senate’s Judiciary Committee approved a bill that will require North Carolina police departments and sheriff’s offices to cooperate with ICE agents when they are trying to take custody of a criminal illegal alien.

With their supermajorities in the state House and Senate, Republicans are expected to approve the bill and override Gov. Roy Cooper’s (D) expected veto. In 2022, the state House and Senate passed the legislation and sent it to Cooper’s desk, but he vetoed the bill.

The bill, if approved, would ensure that North Carolina’s sanctuary jurisdictions — Buncombe County, Durham County, Forsyth County, Mecklenburg County, Orange County, and Wake County — can no longer shield criminal illegal aliens in their custody from immigration enforcement by refusing to turn them over to ICE agents.

Despite its reputation as a red-leaning swing state, North Carolina is home to some of the nation’s most prominent sanctuary jurisdictions. In 2022, the Immigration Reform Law Institute named Wake County as one of the most dangerous sanctuary jurisdictions in the country.

…A vote in the state Senate on the bill is expected this week. The bill was already approved last year by the state House.

People who are here illegally and commit crimes need to be deported. It is no secret that many of the countries sending people here to cross the border illegally are not sending their best. If they are emptying out their prisons, we need to help them fill them up again.

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?