"In my
thirty five years of Service with INS , I can't remember more weasel
administrative action from the top". Ben
by Stephen Dinan-The Washington Friday, August 23, 2013
The Obama administration
issued a new policy Friday that says immigration agents should try not to
arrest and deport illegal immigrant parents of minor children. The move adds to
the categories of people the administration is trying not to deport.
In a nine-page memo, U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement said agents should use "prosecutorial
discretion" to try to avoid detaining parents and, if parents are
detained, agents should make sure they have the ability to visit with their
children or participate in family court proceedings.
The move won praise from
immigrant-rights groups who said it's a step toward a less harsh detention
policy. But a top Republican blasted the memo as another effort by the Obama
administration to circumvent the law.
"President Obama has
once again abused his authority and unilaterally refused to enforce our current
immigration laws by directing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents
to stop removing broad categories of unlawful immigrants," said House
Judiciary Committee Chairman Robert W. Goodlatte, Virginia Republican.
Mr. Goodlatte, whose
committee is in charge of many of the immigration bills the House could
consider later this year and who is working on a legalization bill for young
illegal immigrants, said the Obama administration move "poisons the
debate" and shows the president is trying to "politicize the
issue" rather than work for a compromise bill.
The memo is the latest in a
series of directives issued by ICE and by Homeland Security Secretary Janet
Napolitano that try to lay out priorities for who the government will detain
and try to deport.
Ms. Napolitano says her
department is only funded to deport about 400,000 immigrants a year, out of a
total population of about 11 million. She said it makes sense to focus those
deportation efforts on immigrants with serious criminal records or who have
repeatedly violated immigration laws.
A year ago, she issued a
policy granting tentative legal status to young illegal immigrants brought to
the country as children, who call themselves Dreamers. That policy began
accepting applications in August 2012 and as of the end of this July had
approved legal status for more than 430,000 illegal immigrants.
The new memo instructs ICE
agents to give special consideration when they encounter an illegal immigrant
who is a parent or legal guardian of a child.
"FODs shall continue
to weigh whether an exercise of prosecutorial discretion may be warranted for a
given alien and shall consider all relevant factors in this determination,
including whether the alien is a parent or legal guardian of a USC or LPR minor, or is a primary caretaker of a minor," said the new
memo, known as the "Family Interest Directive." FODs are field operations
directors, LPRs are legal permanent residents and USCs are U.S. citizens.
Bruce Lesley, president of
the First Focus Campaign for Children, said the only long-term solution is for
Congress to pass a law, but said in the meantime the new policy helps.
"The Family Interest
Directive is a major victory for children, reducing the likelihood that
immigration enforcement will tear families apart and reducing the harm to kids
when separation is unavoidable," he said in a statement.
ICE agents and officers
sued to try to block the policies, but a federal judge in Texas last month turned down their case. The judge said
they were probably correct in arguing that the law requires them to arrest
illegal immigrants, but he said he didn't have jurisdiction since it was a
matter for collective bargaining, not for the courts.
© Copyright 2013 The Washington
Ben Ferro
benferro@insideins.com
