Bill Gives DHS Sec. 'Virtually Unlimited Discretion to Waive Any Manner of Crimes,' ICE Council Warns Congress
May 9, 2013
Sen.
Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) entered a letter from law enforcement officials
nationwide warning of the dangers of the immigration bill S.744 into the
judiciary committee record today.The letter To Congress from the National Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Council of the American Federation of Government Employees Affiliated with AFL-CIO warns of the discretionary power the bill gives to “political appointees” and takes away from law enforcers:
“Congress can and must take decisive steps to limit
the discretion of political appointees and empower ICE and CBP to
perform their respective missions and enforce the laws enacted by
Congress. Rather than limiting the power of those political appointees
within DHS, S. 744 provides them with nearly unlimited discretion, which
will serve only to further cripple the law enforcement missions of
these agencies.”
They warn that the Senate immigration bill
gives DHS Sec. Janet Napolitano “virtually unlimited discretion to
waiver” prohibitions on obtaining legal status, such as criminal
activity or previous deportation:
“This same section (Section 2101 of S. 744) gives
the Secretary of Homeland Security virtually unlimited discretion to
waive any manner of crimes that would otherwise make an individual
ineligible for legal status––for such expansive reasons as family unity,
humanitarian purposes, or what the Secretary believes is in the public
interest.”
“At least two of these standards appear undefined
by S. 744 or current law, providing political appointees with broad
authority to establish their own definitions of these terms and pardon
criminal acts under almost any circumstance.”
“The bill states that individuals who have
previously been deported or otherwise removed from the country are
ineligible to apply for legal status. However, the Secretary is given
the 'sole and unreviewable discretion' to waive that ineligibility for
large classes of qualifying aliens.”
The letter concludes that ICE officers would
continue to be “powerless” to protect the public and do their jobs if
the bill becomes law:
“If this legislation were enacted tomorrow, ICE
officers would continue to be powerless to effectively enforce our
nation’s laws and provide for public safety as S. 744 does nothing to
end these dangerous agency- and department-level directives.”
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