The Obama administration used accounting sleights of hand and more lenient deportation procedures to reach its much-touted “record number of deportations” this last fiscal year, reports the Washington Post. ICE included in its 392,862 deportation figure for fiscal year 2010 19,000 immigrants who had exited the previous year, and the agency encouraged more illegal aliens with criminal records to accept voluntary return — a free flight back to Mexico at taxpayer expense, which leaves no immigration violation blot on an illegal alien’s record. Without these efforts, which added 25,000 deportations to the tally, ICE would not have broken the deportation record this fiscal year.
One should be grateful, I suppose, that the Obama administration is at least paying lip service to the goal of greater immigration enforcement, even if it has to cook the books a little to meet that goal. Better a little hypocrisy in the public pursuit of virtue than to reject the validity of deportation altogether. And certainly the Bush administration was no more vigorous in enforcing the immigration laws than the Obama administration is. But any celebration of the Obama administration’s commitment to the immigration rule of law is of course premature. Much of ICE’s current deportation policy is immigration theater, designed to provide the administration with leverage towards a large-scale amnesty. If the Obama administration really believed in immigration enforcement, it would not be suing Arizona for enforcing federal immigration law; instead, it would be suing those many jurisdictions that continue to defy the 1996 federal ban on sanctuary policies. And it would drop its distinction between what it bills as legitimately deportable illegal aliens — those with severe criminal records — and those illegal aliens with less severe or no criminal records who, according to the administration, should not fear ICE. Nothing in the country’s immigration laws enacts such a distinction.
accounting sleights of hand
Doesn't the IRS send people to jail for this?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseCooking the books? The Obama Administration? As Capt. Renault would say: “I am shocked, shocked I say!” Heather obviously doesn't see the transparency promised by the big O. On the other hand, maybe it is really transparent to her (and us) as to what is going on!
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseHeather Mac Donald once said of the people who wander the streets of New York City muttering to themselves:
"Enforcing expectations of reasonable behavior is not just essential to shelter management, it is a vital prerequisite to bringing vagrants back into society. Until street colonists learn to obey the most minimal rules for decent conduct, they cannot expect to hold a job or an apartment."
Taken literally, this statement is absolutely true. Considered in the context of who the homeless actually are, it is breathtakingly insensitive.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI just wish that if Heather and Mark were going to criticize U.S. immigration policy and law (and it does need criticizing) they at least get to the point where they actually understand U.S. immigration policy and law.
For example, Heather says:
"ICE included in its 392,862 deportation figure for fiscal year 2010 19,000 immigrants who had exited the previous year, and the agency encouraged more illegal aliens with criminal records to accept voluntary return — a free flight back to Mexico at taxpayer expense, which leaves no immigration violation blot on an illegal alien’s record. "
This is simply not true. "Voluntary return" occurs when an alien is caught at the border trying to cross into the U.S. Rather than file a Notice to Appear (the charging document) and place them in front of an immigration judge, the border patrol prints them, takes a photo, and then sends marches them right back across the border. There is no "free flight at the tax payers' expense involved."
Then you have "voluntary departure." This can only be granted by an immigration judge. Depending on the circumstances, an alien grant Voluntary Departure" can have up to 120 days to depart the country on his own. However, he must do so on his own dime. ICE doesn't by a plane ticket, etc. The alien must present himself to ICE short before leaving, he is given certain documents which he must then present to the consulate in his native country. Then, the consulate informs ICE when the person does this.
She right that this does not put a "deportation" on their record, but in most cases that hardly matters because a deport results in a 10-year bar to re-entry. However, the mere fact of remaining the U.S. longer than one year illegally results in the exact same bar. The only difference is that a person who is deported must wait 1-year before then can request a waiver to re-enter legally whereas a person with a voluntary departure can request the waiver immediately.
The ONLY time ICE buys the ticket is when the person is ordered "removed" (the new name for deportation).
It would be nice if all the folks who criticized Obama for not reading the Arizona law before he balked at it would actually read the INA before commenting on it. The less hypocrisy, the better.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuseleticia olalia morales of 15501 pasadena ave #8 tustin ca 92780 submitted fake documents and paid a consul 5000.00 dollars to obtain a tourist visa. she is now applying for naturalization.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse