The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday the appraisal of pending deportation proceedings to refocus enforcement on high priority cases.
A case-by-case approach based on the new guidelines will consider DREAM Act-eligible individuals, relatives of veterans, and other undocumented immigrants under deportation proceedings who have no prior criminal convictions and are regarded as non-threatening to the public safety; to have their cases dismissed and even to obtain a work permit.
The White House blog published a post saying that the review would "clear out low-priority cases on a case-by-case basis and make more room to deport people who have been convicted of crimes or pose a security risk."
"From a law enforcement and public safety perspective, DHS enforcement resources must continue to be focused on our highest priorities... Doing otherwise hinders our public safety mission - clogging immigration court dockets and diverting DHS enforcement resources away from the individuals who pose a threat to public safety," Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano wrote to a group of senators.
In Los Angles, Angelica Salas, executive director of CHIRLA, said in a written statement: “After two and a half years of pressuring the Administration for key changes and one million deportations later, DHS inched a step closer to more humane, smart, and sensible immigration enforcement. If the process announced today is implemented, we believe hundreds of thousands of honest, hard-working families, including DREAM-eligible students, in deportation proceedings should have their cases stayed.”
But not everyone is happy with the immigration policy move. The New York Times quoted the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Representative Lamar Smith, saying:
“The Obama administration has again made clear its plan to grant backdoor amnesty to illegal immigrants,” Smith said. “The administration should enforce immigration laws, not look for ways to ignore them. Officials should remember the oath of office they took to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the land.”
Illegal immigration is under the spotlight on the eve of the presidential election year, an issue that Barack Obama has not been able to solve and that could turn the table regarding the Latino vote in 2012.
More than 392,000 removals of illegal aliens were executed by ICE in fiscal year 2010, half of which were convicted criminals. The statistics set a record and represent increases of more than 23,000 overall deportations and 81,000 criminal removals compared to fiscal year 2008—a more than 70 percent increase from the Bush administration.
U.S. immigration courts across the nation currently face a delay in more than 300,000 deportation cases which await resolution. Hundreds of judges serve in 59 immigration courts across the country, in a system that includes an appeal body, and the Board of Immigration Appeals.
Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) has estimated that the average time taken to dispose of an immigration case is currently 467 days, and that the case receipts for this fiscal year (2011) will top 400,000.
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