The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Down Range Cafe => Topic started by: Hazcat on August 25, 2010, 12:23:51 PM
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Feds moving to dismiss some deportation cases
Critics assail the plan as a bid to create a kind of backdoor 'amnesty'
By SUSAN CARROLL
Copyright 2010, HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Aug. 24, 2010, 9:00PM
he Department of Homeland Security is systematically reviewing thousands of pending immigration cases and moving to dismiss those filed against suspected illegal immigrants who have no serious criminal records, according to several sources familiar with the efforts.
Culling the immigration court system dockets of noncriminals started in earnest in Houston about a month ago and has stunned local immigration attorneys, who have reported coming to court anticipating clients' deportations only to learn that the government was dismissing their cases.
--SNIP--
Gonzalez, the liaison between the Executive Office for Immigration Review, which administers the immigration court system, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said DHS now has five attorneys assigned full time to reviewing all active cases in Houston's immigration court.
Gonzalez said DHS attorneys are conducting the reviews on a case-by-case basis. However, he said they are following general guidelines that allow for the dismissal of cases for defendants who have been in the country for two or more years and have no felony convictions.
In some instances, defendants can have one misdemeanor conviction, but it cannot involve a DWI, family violence or sexual crime, Gonzalez said.
--SNIP--
Memo outlines priorities
Immigrants who have had their cases terminated are frequently left in limbo, immigration attorneys said, and are not granted any form of legal status.
"It's very, very key to understand that these aliens are not being granted anything in court. They are still here illegally. They don't have work permits. They don't have Social Security numbers," Mendoza said. "ICE is just saying, 'At this particular moment, we are not going to proceed with trying to remove you from the United States.' "
In a June 30 memo, ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton outlined the agency's priorities, saying it had the capacity to remove about 400,000 illegal immigrants annually — about 4 percent of the estimated illegal immigrant population in the country. The memo outlines priorities for the detention and removal system, putting criminals and threats to national security at the top of the list.
Up to 17,000 cases
On Tuesday, ICE officials provided a copy of a new policy memo from Morton dated Aug. 20 that instructs government attorneys to review the court cases of people with pending applications to adjust status based on their relation to a U.S. citizen. Morton estimates in the memo that the effort could affect up to 17,000 cases.
Tre Rebsock, the ICE union representative in Houston, said even if the efforts involve only a fraction of the pending immigration cases, "that's going to make our officers feel even more powerless to enforce the laws."
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7169978.html
(emphasis BOLD is mine)
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WTF is happening in this country?!? Every day the administration takes another crap on the Constitution.
It's official.............I'm pissed.
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qh38gKb5Uuo/SbUU3h2TU_I/AAAAAAAAAS8/LffF1IuLiWQ/s400/hangmans+noose.jpg)
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We always knew that bho would bypass the law, kongress, the kourts, everyone who stood in his way. WTF did you think he was going to do with all of those czars????
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Thou art a traitor. Off with his head! Now by Saint Paul I swear I will not dine until I see the same.
-William Shakespeare
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Confirmed. 100% true. and right before the election....
http://www.redstate.com/california_yankee/2010/08/25/obama-admin-gives-illegal-aliens-backdoor-amnesty/
Obama admin gives illegal aliens backdoor amnesty
Posted by Dan Spencer (Profile)
Wednesday, August 25th at 1:30PM EDT
The so-called backdoor amnesty for illegal aliens is no longer merely another bad idea from the Obama administration. According to the Houston Chronicle, the Department of Homeland Security is trying to dismiss thousands of deportation cases against “suspected illegal immigrants.”
The Chronicle reports the Obama amnesty effort began “about a month ago” in Houston, where the Department of Homeland Security now has five attorneys working full-time on this backdoor amnesty for illegal aliens. The amnesty program is expected to be rolled out nationwide soon.
Senator John Cornyn blasted the Obama amnesty:
This situation is just another side effect of President Obama’s failure to deliver on his campaign promise to make immigration reform a priority in his first year. Until he does, state and local authorities are left with no choice but to pick up the slack for prosecuting and detaining criminal aliens.
Earlier this year, President Obama affirmed his support for the Schumer/Graham immigration legislation outline.
Obama ran for president promising secure borders, increased number of legal immigrants, to remove incentives for illegal immigration, and to allow undocumented immigrants who are in good standing to pay a fine, learn English, and go to the back of the line for the opportunity to become citizens.
President Obama promised to make immigration reform a top priority of the first year of his presidency. When Obama backed away from that promise, Politifact rated his promise stalled.
As I have said before, Amnesty for illegal, whether it is backdoor or contained in a comprehensive reform bill, sends a simple message - get into the United States anyway you can because eventually you will be legalized. That message will be heard loud and clear just as it was with the adoption of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (”IRCA”). That “immigration reform” legalized four million illegal aliens. IRCA was a monumental failure. Twenty-odd years later there millions of new illegal aliens to legalize.
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We knew it was coming. 70 days before a National Mid Term Election. Watch ACORN revive itself, and make sure they contribute to the continuation of this Admin.
"Good intentions will always be pleaded for any assumption of power. The Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters."
Daniel Webster
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Seems the Constitutional Guards need to be woken up.
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What organization will take this to the Courts?
Executive order is subject to Judicial oversight, just as Legislative is.
These appointments and orders he does to go around the system is a capital offense in my opinion (notice I ain't claiming humbleness here)!
What ever happened to the United States Constitution that he swore to defend from all enemies, foreign and domestic?
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What organization will take this to the Courts?
Executive order is subject to Judicial oversight, just as Legislative is.
These appointments and orders he does to go around the system is a capital offense in my opinion (notice I ain't claiming humbleness here)!
What ever happened to the United States Constitution that he swore to defend from all enemies, foreign and domestic?
Actually, what he is doing here is perfectly Constitutional. As Chief Executive, he can direct Federal agencies to act, or not act, in any lawful means that he chooses. It comes down to Congress. They must pass a bill stating that deportation shall be mandatory rather than discretionary barring a good reason (and there are several). They must fund ICE. They must give states the authority and duty to enforce immigration law. They must ban sanctuary cities. A President COULD and SHOULD do that, but the last 5 haven't. They were within their Constitutional rights not to, even though they were dead wrong. So, Congress can and should take it out of their hands. We can't deport 12 million folks? Watch us. Once again, let us set a good example for Europe or else follow in their sorry footsteps.
FQ13
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FQ:
Actually, what he is doing here is perfectly Constitutional. As Chief Executive, he can direct Federal agencies to act, or not act, in any lawful means that he chooses.
Backdoor Amnesty
The Border: Polls show Democrats have decisively lost the debate over granting amnesty to illegals. But has that stopped them? Hardly. Using the federal bureaucracy as their agent, they plan to do it anyway.
This is what happens when big government becomes so powerful that those who run it feel they can do whatever they want — no matter what the Constitution allows or the people prefer.
Americans strongly oppose amnesty for those here illegally. Democrats have been frightened away from trying to pass an amnesty bill because they're terrified of the political consequences.
But as the Associated Press reports, that doesn't mean amnesty is dead. Far from it. Indeed, the White House and Congress have apparently decided on a policy of "backdoor amnesty" — giving the U.S.' immigration bureaucracy the go-ahead to enforce an amnesty law that has never been passed.
An 11-page memo written by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officials suggests that, in the absence of an immigration overhaul, the agency could provide "relief" to illegals anyway. This would include, according to the memo, putting off deportation for some illegals or even giving green cards to others.
"This memorandum," it says, "offers administrative relief options to ... reduce the threat of removal for certain individuals present in the United States without authorization."
In other words, the bureaucracy is no longer beholden to the law — it is the law. Our beloved bureaucrats clearly don't believe they need Congress' OK to do what they want.
"In the absence of comprehensive immigration reform," the memo contends, "USCIS can extend benefits and/or protections to many individuals or groups."
This would be done, of course, with a conspiratorial wink and a nod from the Democrats in Congress, who mostly support amnesty but are too cowardly to vote for it in an election year.
By letting the bureaucracy ignore current law, Congress avoids the messy process of debating amnesty, which has infuriated Americans and will be a surefire loser for Democrats in November.
This is pure political cowardice. It's also a form of tyranny — an attempt to circumvent the people's will and the Constitution.
"The document provides an additional basis for our concerns that the administration will go to great lengths to circumvent Congress and unilaterally execute a backdoor amnesty plan," said Republican Sen. Charles Grassley. "The problem remains that if you reward illegality, you get more of it."
In June, a group of concerned Republican senators sent a letter to President Obama seeking assurances that he wouldn't try to make an end-run around Congress to enact an amnesty for illegals.
http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/542394/201008021857/Backdoor-Amnesty.aspx
FQ, you think this went from Big Sis Napolitano, to AG Holder, Via BHO himself,....of course CYA for plausible deniability?
Timing is everything during an election year.
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Gawd I hope the American public has the BAWLS to impeach this BASTARD, before this country falls!
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The minute Obama grants amnesty they will be eligible for free Obama care something the Dems put in the health care bill. :'( :-\
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I believe that this is the reason they are now called "undocumented immigrants" rather than the old and true name "illegal aliens."
If they still used the name illegal aliens the name itself would nullify the idea that they haven't committed a crime in the last two years.
This is a pushing of the boundaries so far that even if it is legal an ethical leader wouldn't short cut the system on this type of long lasting issue.
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I believe that this is the reason they are now called "undocumented immigrants" rather than the old and true name "illegal aliens."
If they still used the name illegal aliens the name itself would nullify the idea that they haven't committed a crime in the last two years.
This is a pushing of the boundaries so far that even if it is legal an ethical leader wouldn't short cut the system on this type of long lasting issue.
Cough...Ronal Reagan...cough. This goes beyond party. Its just a matter of Americans being somehow so afaid of the word "racist" that we will be paralysed even when there is nothing racist about doing the right thing.
FQ13
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FQ,
We know Reagan had an amnesty. I was against it then, too. That is one of the differences between a Dem or Repub and a true conservative. To a conservative it doesn't matter who is doing it, wrong is wrong.
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They keep talking about "A pathway to citizenship" for these people. There already is a pathway to citizenship: Fill out the papers, get a visa, come to the US and apply for citizenship, follow the instructions, do what is required, and your in!!! Full citizenship.
the criminals didn't take the "pathway", they snuck in. Where's Kim Jong Il when you need him?
This is my third post today. Can you tell I'm in a crappy mood?
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Actually, what he is doing here is perfectly Constitutional. As Chief Executive, he can direct Federal agencies to act, or not act, in any lawful means that he chooses.
FQ13
There is a reason they are called ILLEGAL ALIENS. It is against the law for them to even be here, so by directing DHS to dismiss their cases he is issuing an ILLEGAL order, that violates the Constitution.
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We already have a "Pathway to Citizenship" it's called the Legal immigration Process, USE IT !
Jail the employers of illegal aliens .