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ICE Announces Mass Immigration Raids

ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) today announced 2,400 arrests during the past 7 days during Operation Cross-Check, a program in all 50 states that is "part of the Obama administration's ongoing commitment to prioritizing the removal of criminal aliens that threaten public and national security." [More...]

Agencies and resources involved:

This seven-day operation, the largest of its kind, involved the collaboration of more than 500 ICE agents and officers, as well as coordination with the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), and our state and local law enforcement partners throughout the United States.

What happens to those arrested? They will be held in "ICE jails."

Last week, the Third Circuit ruled four federal officials are entitled to immunity from claims of abusive immigration raids conducted under the "Operation Return to Sender" program. According to the Complaint:

[T]he majority of individuals arrested in New Jersey under Operation Return to Sender are neither criminals or fugitives....In fact, 87 percent of the people arrested through the raids in 2007 had no criminal history, and just one in three arrestees was "actually a fugitive alien.

A few days ago, ICE sent out a memo on prosecutorial discretion. After listing factors that may warrant the exercise of discretion, it contains this disclaimer:

As there is no right to the favorable exercise of discretion by the agency, nothing in this memorandum should be construed to prohibit the apprehension, detention, or removal of any alien unlawfully in the United States or to limit the legal authority of ICE or any of its personnel to enforce federal immigration law.

Similarly, this memorandum, which may be modified, superseded, or rescinded at any time without notice, is not intended to, does not, and may not be relied upon to create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law by any party in any administrative, civil, or criminal matter.

A new report on immigrant detention centers by Human Rights Watch finds:

[T]ransfers separate detained immigrants, including legal permanent residents, refugees, and undocumented people, from the attorneys, witnesses, and evidence they need to defend against deportation. That can violate their right to fair treatment in court, slow down asylum or deportation proceedings, and extend their time in detention.

Whatever happened to the path to legalization and respect for family unification? I think it's time for ICE to undergo a meltdown.

If you have a grievance with ICE, here's how to file a complaint.

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  • Display: Sort:
    I second the (5.00 / 0) (#1)
    by jeffinalabama on Tue Jun 21, 2011 at 10:11:27 PM EST
    meltdown. I'll be filing my grievance, also.

    Family unification is simply crazy talk to ICE.

    ICE and TSA and DHS are the initials of Big Brother and Newspeak.

    It seems to me, if the federal government could (5.00 / 0) (#2)
    by oculus on Tue Jun 21, 2011 at 10:24:34 PM EST
    assure it was only seeking to deport undocumented persons who have been convicted of felonies, how many here object to that?

    I don't take any (5.00 / 0) (#3)
    by jeffinalabama on Tue Jun 21, 2011 at 10:39:46 PM EST
    of their statements at face value any more. They have lost any credibility with me.

    Parent
    I can understand your position. (none / 0) (#4)
    by oculus on Tue Jun 21, 2011 at 10:40:59 PM EST
    Deval Patrick (5.00 / 1) (#9)
    by CST on Wed Jun 22, 2011 at 10:59:02 AM EST
    speaks for me on this issue:

    "Governor Deval Patrick said today that he will refuse to sign the controversial federal Secure Communities program, which refers illegal immigrants arrested even for minor crimes to federal immigration officials for deportation.

    Patrick said the program, as carried out, sweeps up too many people who are not criminals and that feedback from immigration activists, police chiefs, and local mayors persuaded him that it would ultimately discourage people from reporting crimes.

    "We run a serious risk of ethnic profiling and frankly fracturing incredibly important relationships in communities that are important for law enforcement," he said."

    Unfortunately: "The US government will force the state of Massachusetts to join a controversial federal program to detect and deport illegal immigrants, despite Governor Deval Patrick's refusal to endorse it"  and apparently since Mayor Menino is on board, Boston is the only jurisdiction in the state that has already implemented the program on it's own.

    "more than half of those deported under Boston's program were not criminals. About 1 in 4 of those deported had been convicted of a serious crime."

    emphasis mine.  The problem Oculus, is that not only does the fed not "assure it was only seeking to deport undocumented persons who have been convicted of felonies", they are actively doing the opposite.

    I can't believe (none / 0) (#5)
    by NYShooter on Tue Jun 21, 2011 at 11:14:30 PM EST
    what's happening to me. Oh, how much fun it was mocking, and making fun of those dopey camouflaged "weekend warriors," slinking through the woods, looking towards the sky for those black-op choppers coming to swoop them away to "secret" detention centers. Oh, Lord! LOL, Ha, ha, oh yeah, I'm laughing so hard, I can't catch my breath.

    Boy,
    Are
    They stooped!

    Whew, got my breath back. O.k.

    The very idea, hundreds of agents, in full dragnet formation, batons flailing, skulls cracking....oooh wheee

    Boy
    Are
    They
    Stooped.

    Boy......are they stupid?

    Okay. (none / 0) (#6)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Jun 22, 2011 at 06:20:13 AM EST
    Doesn't this just reinforce in people's minds that Obama is a conservative?

    Two questions: (none / 0) (#7)
    by Nemi on Wed Jun 22, 2011 at 06:55:13 AM EST
    How exactly is 'threaten public and national security' defined? Very "broad" I presume?

    And, who TF comes up with a name like "Operation Return to Sender"? Those operation 'transcriptions' are not only juvenile but offensive on so many levels, not least insulting to anyone's intelligence. The recent "Operation Odyssey Dawn" anyone? [rolling eyes]

    When I read this bit.... (none / 0) (#8)
    by kdog on Wed Jun 22, 2011 at 08:34:02 AM EST
    criminal aliens that threaten public and national security

    I thought it must surely be the government being referenced...all them acronyms for pain threaten public safety and national security more than any immigrant ever could...and the people who set these policies, and the mercs who do the dirty work, must surely be aliens...they ain't from my species, my species have hearts.

    Not that I want them chained, caged, and ripped from their families or anything...that would be cruel and inhumane...just get the f*ck out of power and maybe we can restore public safety and national security.

     

    Parent