Hundreds of criminal aliens secretly released by Obama's DHS: New data

by: jim kouri | published: 05 19, 2013

On the same day that Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano announced that she will travel to San Francisco and Los Angeles, Calif., on Friday to meet with technology and business leaders to discuss the need for commonsense immigration reform, a report was released on Thursday revealing that hundreds of criminal aliens were released from detention.

According to officials with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) hundreds of illegal aliens with criminal records for offenses committed in the U.S. were secretly released earlier this year with the rationale that the Obama DHS is preparing to cut ICE's budget, according to ICE data released on Thursday in the midst of three scandals that were "sucking up the oxygen."

The ICE data reveals that Secretary Napolitano's claim that the releases involved detainees who committed non-violent crimes is just not accurate, said former NYPD detective Manuel Ortega-Sanchez.

According to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., ICE released the figures to him only after officials there were threatened with subpoenas and other legal action.

According to ICE, 2,226 detainees were released in February and more than 620 of them had criminal convictions.

A statement from Sen. McCain's and Sen. Carl Levin, D-MI, said that at lease 32 of illegal aliens released had committed multiple felonies. McCain reported that ICE agents captured 24 of those released after realizing the severity of their criminal offenses.

At the time, Homeland Security Department officials said the decision was made in order to stay within budget. Those detainees released were still said to face deportation and be under supervision. But administration officials downplayed the threat they might pose after leaving the local immigration jails.

In late February, Obama's Press Secretary Jay Carney made a statement that turns out to be untrue: "As ICE made clear, the agency released these low-risk, non-criminal detainees under a less expensive form of monitoring to ensure detention levels stayed within ICE's overall budget." [Emphasis added]

"Carney has always been truth-challenged in his capacity as President Obama's mouthpiece. The man should be ashamed of himself," said Det. Ortega-Sanchez.

The offenses committed by the released criminal aliens includes driving under the influence, menacing, and vandalism of private property. Others were convicted of illegal possess of a firearm, possession of drugs with the intent to sell, burglary, robbery and grand larceny.

The head of the union representing members of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement division of the Homeland Security Department on Thursday stated that immigration enforcement is being run by leaders of a racist group known as La Raza ("The Race").

According to Chris Crane, the current president of the union for ICE agents, the National ICE Council, President Barack Obama, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, and ICE Director John Morton have all but abdicated their leadership in the enforcement of immigration laws and the protection of U.S. borders and citizens.

In a letter to Congress on May 9, Crane and a number of law enforcement executives complained that while business groups, activists, and other special interests were closely involved in the drafting of the proposed Schumer-Rubio immigration reform bill (S. 744), law enforcement personnel were excluded from those sessions.

"Immigration officers and state and local law enforcement working directly within the nation’s broken immigration system were prohibited from providing input," the letter from law enforcement stated.

"As a result, the legislation before us may have many satisfactory components for powerful lobbying groups and other special interests, but on the subjects of public safety, border security, and interior enforcement, this legislation fails. It is a dramatic step in the wrong direction," said Crane and the other law enforcement contributors to the letter.

For example, ICE officers are currently directed by DHS to allow adult inmates in jails to lie about their “DREAMer” status in order to avoid immigration arrest.

As a result, inmates are permitted to simply walk out of jails without being required to provide proof of eligibility for “DREAMer” status and without any investigation by ICE. ICE officers report overhearing inmates coaching one another on how to lie to ICE officers about having “DREAMer” status to avoid arrest, yet ICE officers are still powerless to arrest them, complains Crane.

The law enforcement officials involved in Crane's quest for protection of Americans from foreign criminals say they believe these revelations should alarm every member of Congress, and indeed, every American.

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