A shake-up in immigration policy may lead to deportation proceedings being dropped for thousands of aliens who entered the United States illegally but are applying to stay in the country, officials said on Friday.
They said the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) seeks to end deportation proceedings against detained illegal immigrants who have applications pending to become legal U.S. residents, if agents determine they have no criminal history and do not present a security threat.
The policy shift emerged from an internal memorandum ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton sent last week to the agency's principal legal adviser and a director of enforcement and removal operations.
The memo was published by the New York Times on Friday and confirmed to Reuters by officials.
Morton said the policy aimed to reduce the backlog in immigration courts, where authorities identified some 17,000 cases last year that could be eliminated if ICE dropped removal proceedings against illegal immigrants who had applied for legal status and were very likely to get it.
The issue of what to do with nearly 11 million illegal immigrants living and working in the shadows in the United States has become an increasingly hot topic in the run up to the midterm elections in November, where Democratic control of Congress is on the line.
President Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats back a comprehensive reform of immigration policy to tighten border security, while allowing illegal immigrants in good standing the chance to learn English, pay a fine and get on a path to citizenship.
Republicans say that policy is effectively "amnesty" and likely to encourage more illegal entrants.
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of course Obama wants this .... since he himself is most likely an illegal ..... yes i will keep on saying this so before you liberal crybabies start ..... show me the birth certificate and ill stop
ReplyDeleteHe is still your President Cory, like it or not. Instead of just standing around and pointing fingers, become active in in protesting the policyand do all you can to have these drains on society deported, as they should be.
ReplyDelete"They said the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) seeks to end deportation proceedings against detained illegal immigrants who have applications pending to become legal U.S. residents, if agents determine they have no criminal history and do not present a security threat"
ReplyDeleteIf they are here and in custody...... AND they are illegal, wouldn't they mean they already have a criminal record?
Death to the Tyrant !
ReplyDeleteObama is an illegal !
ReplyDeleteObama has goin past his time. He has worn out his welcome!
ReplyDeleteRight on, 12:46. Their being here is a crime, thus they all have a criminal history.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand why there is a backlog in the courts. This should take 15 minutes, tops.
"Are you Pablo?"
"Si."
"Can you show me documentation which allows you in the country?"
"Nada."
"OK. Here's the Rio Grande. Start swimming and don't stop until you get to the other side. Say hello to the Zetas."