.
The public relations campaign launched by the post-9/11 Federal immigration
bureaucracy—specifically the Department of Homeland
Security (DHS)
and its
Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
division—conceals a scandalous reality: immigration
non-enforcement and an agency-wide kicking-and-screaming
reluctance to actually implement
summary removal authority granted by Congress almost
ten years ago.
But that`s only the beginning. Reports from the field tell of
institutionalized malaise and
bureaucratic infighting, which persist long after
the much-criticized Immigration and Naturalization
Service (INS) was abolished.
Considering that summary removal is so vitally important for immigration
law enforcement—see my
Absolutely Definitive Essay on the subject—the DHS
disinformation on expedited removal at the border is
astounding.
Consider the following:
-
The
latest announcement on January 30 by the DHS
that the federal government now "Streamlines
Removal Process Along Entire U.S. Border"
says nothing about the actual history of
expedited removal under
Section 235(b)
of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
- But the current
Section 235(b) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act was passed by
Congress along with amendments called the
"Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant
Responsibility Act of 1996" (IIRIRA). The IIRIRA
legislation was signed by President Clinton on
September 30, 1996. It became effective on April 1,
1997.
- This allows for the summary
removal of illegal aliens found anywhere in
the United States—within two years of
entering illegally. (It`s all right there in
Immigration Act
Section 235(b)(1)(A)(iii).) It`s just never
been implemented. So much for the DHS`
press releases.
- Unfortunately, as I`ve written
again and
again, the much loved (by real immigration
reformers) but hated and feared (by the
Treason Lobby) immigration bill, H.R. 4437,
passed last year by the House of Representatives,
actually undercuts the
1996 expedited removal authority already on the
books. It only allows the summary removal of illegal
aliens found within 100 miles of a land border
within 14 days of entry…the same standard already
implemented in
limited regulations by the DHS.
But that`s not all, folks.
Although the
Clinton/ Bush Administrations have implemented
only a fraction of the
summary removal authority that has existed since 1997,
the immigration bureaucracy has thrown up even more
roadblocks against
expedited removal and the accompanying "credible
fear" review process.
Out of longstanding bureaucratic inertia, the
CBP and the
Immigration Inspectors stationed at border ports of
entry (POEs) and the
U.S. Border Patrol are engaged in a game of "hot
potato" with illegal aliens.
I just received some
interesting information on this issue from a
whistleblowing VDARE.com reader. Here`s
the report . . . hot off the press and straight
from the front lines of the border
via e-mail on February 21:
"In the
past, if an
OTM [an alien `other
than Mexican`] arrived to the POE [port
of entry] from the north, we would call Border Patrol
and they would pick them up for processing. Now, any
OTM that arrives to the POE, no matter how they cross
into the U.S., is to be processed by the POE. All OTMs,
except El Salvadorans, are to be ER`d [given
"expedited removal"] under Immigration Act Section
235(b)] and detained until removal. El Salvadorans will
be NTA`d [issued charting documents for EOIR
Immigration Court called `notices to appear`] and
served with Orantes rights,
[Recycled
VDARE.COM NOTE: The
Orantes
decision was based on Cold War
politics; there was a
guerilla war
going on in El Salvador in the
1980s. But the Cold War has been over for some time,
even in El Salvador]
I-217 & I-862. If there is no
space in detention they will be released.
This is obviously more efficient.
But…
"The
legacy Immigration Inspectors are happy for the chance
to do their jobs, the one they`ve trained for. However,
the legacy customs management is quite upset. It seems
they do not want to do immigration work. As I told you
in the past, legacy customs management does not play
well with the Border Patrol (BP), actually they hate
them. They are trying to do anything they can to get
the decision reversed.
My
reader provided an example:
"One
evening, nine OTMs showed up at a POE. [Remember,
OTM illegals
regularly surrender and claim asylum because know
that the EOIR process will let them stay in the U.S.
while their request is being processed]. This group
consisted of two adult females and seven children. It
was cold, rainy and windy. These people were also a
little hungry. A legacy Customs supervisor, GS-12
instructed this group to go back out on the street,
head towards a certain area and flag down a BP vehicle.
[VDARE.COM emphasis]
A Legacy Immigration GS-13 says, without really saying
it or mentioning names, that the Customs supervisor did
this by orders of another Customs GS-14.
"These
folks [the aliens] found the BP. The
BP agents took them to the station for processing.
During processing, the adults informed BP that they were
at the POE and were told to go back out on the street
and find a BP vehicle. Well, as you can imagine, BP is
very upset about this. I understand that OIG [the
Office of Inspector General] was informed."
This is not the difference between
being deported and staying. Apparently, the
former Customs officials just don`t want to do any
immigration work at all.
Obviously, the DHS should rethink
its public relations slogans: "One team, One fight"
. . . and "One face at the border."
America desperately needs to have expedited removal
implemented—but this continued bureaucratic battling
bodes ill for any system of enforcement at all.
Juan Mann [email
him] is
an attorney and the proprietor of
DeportAliens.com.
He writes a weekly column for
VDARE.com and
contributes to Michelle Malkin`s
Immigration BLOG.
