Matthew Kolken on Deportation And Removal

Obama Administration Increasing Deportation Agents by 25%

It has been reported that the Obama administration is increasing the number of deportation agents by a staggering 25% in furtherance of the aggressive goal to deport as many people as humanly possible before the end of President Obama's first term in office.  

Obama already holds the all-time deportation record for a sitting President, but like Barry Bonds, the Deportation King is going to put the record so far out of reach that historians will be forced to impose an asterisk.

ICE's hiring efforts began on May 14 with the established goal of increasing the number of "fugitive operations teams" from 104 to 129. The plan is for each team to arrest 50 "criminal aliens" per month.  

It should be noted that the Obama administration's definition of "criminal aliens" includes asylum seekers who used fraudulent documentation to escape their country of persecution, and other individuals with no criminal records.

This latest move is clearly in response to what are now confirmed reports that the Obama administration fabricated claims that they have been targeting more "criminal" aliens for deportation.  

The statistics show the opposite.

There was no press release about the recent hiring increases as President Obama is in full-fledged campaign mode mocking Romney's "self-deportation" immigration policy, and making more soon to be broken promises to meaningfully address comprehensive immigration reform in his second term.

Vote Gary Johnson for President in 2012.

ACLU of Georgia Charges Obama Administration with Serious Violations of Immigrant Detainees’ Human and Constitutional Rights

The ACLU of Georgia has released a 182 page report charging the Obama administration with serious human and constitutional rights violations in immigration detention facilities in the State of Georgia.

The report "Prisoners of Profit" is dedicated to the memory of Roberto Medina Martinez (1969-2009) and all immigrants who have perished in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

The ACLU found that ICE’s aggressive “Operation Endgame” goal of deporting all removable aliens by 2012 has overloaded the already overcrowded immigration court dockets, and immigrant detainees’ due process rights are being violated, both in immigration court and at the detention facilities.

The report highlights the following concerns relating to:

Abuse of Power, including verbal and physical abuse, and retaliatory behavior from guards

Due process concerns during the removal process

ICE officers and Immigration Judges coercing detainees to sign stipulated orders of removal

Non-Citizens are being detained in excess of a presumptively reasonable times

Inadequate medical and mental health care, and unreasonable delays in provision of care

Treatment of detainees with mental Disabilities is punitive rather than care oriented

Conditions for attorney visits are inadequate and raise attorney/client violations

Inadequate cell conditions

Transfers take detainees away from family and community

Imposition of punitive segregation units

Hygiene concerns, including food concerns.

How many reports need to be released before this administration takes steps to eliminate the human rights violations that are a hallmark of the immigration detention system.

I'm sure it will be a "top priority" for the administration if Obama wins a second term.

Pathetic.

Alabama Immigration Law Amended with New Requirement: The Scarlet Letter 'I' for 'Illegal'

Both Alabama's House and Senate passed amendments to the State immigration law yesterday to include a requirement to publish the names of undocumented immigrants that appear in court for violations of Alabama State law, even if criminal charges are ultimately dismissed. They might as well have imposed the requirement for immigrants to wear the scarlet letter 'I' for ILLEGAL.  Forgive me if I'm overstating, but doesn't this eerily remind you of the yellow badge of shame that Jews were required to wear in Nazi Germany.

Other amendments include a provision to permit individuals to present credit cards or voter identification cards to prove residency if they are unable to produce a State driver’s license.  This amendment addresses the embarrassment that resulted when a Mercedes-Benz executive was arrested for not having his driver's licence available.  Papers please.

The legislature did not remove requirements for State law enforcement to verify the immigration status of anyone suspected of immigration violations.  

I wonder if the Alabama legislature's next step is to amended their State flag from the crimson cross to the swastika. 

These are interesting times we live in.

Congressmen and DREAMers File Lawsuit Challenging Constitutionality of Senate Filibuster

A lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia challenging the constitutionality of Senate rules that require 60 votes on motions to proceed with or close debate on proposed amendments, because they are inconsistent with majority rule. This is commonly referred to as a filibuster, and it is the procedure that resulted in the failure of the DREAM Act being brought up for a vote during the previous lame duck session.

Vice President Joe Biden, in his official capacity as President of the United States Senate, is the principle defendant to the lawsuit.

Click here to read the suit in its entirety.

McCain: Romney knows "Self-Deportation" is not 'the entire answer'

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) believes that Mitt Romney is “solidly in favor of immigration reform,” and that Romney is aware that "self-deportation" is not the entire answer.

McCain stated the following: “[Romney] knows that there are 12 million people who are in this country illegally. He knows you have to address it. He has also stated, recently, and I’m happy to say, that we have to address it in a humane fashion.”

Hopefully, whoever wins this election will address the issue more humanely than what we have seen during the last 3.5 years.

I'm not holding my breath.

Obama Administration Set to Deport Mother of Teenage United States Citizen

Fifteen-year-old United States citizen Fredi Reyes is making a desperate plea to his community to help stop the Obama administration from deporting his mother.  Orfilia Reyes unsuccessfully applied for asylum from Guatemala after a family member had been assassinated.  Unlike many others, she came to the United States legally with a visitor's visa.

Fredi describes the ordeal: "I find myself overwhelmed. Not only do I have to worry about school, homework, worrying what other people think about me, I also have to deal with this."

Should the Administration deport his mother Fredi faces the very real possibility of being placed with social services.

A vigil has been organized tomorrow (May 15) at Our Lady of Grace Church in Greensboro, N.C., between 6:30-8:00p.m.  Please attend if you are in the area.  

An online petition has also been created.  Click here to sign it.

Alabama State Senate Delays Vote on Amending Immigration Law

The Alabama State Senate has delayed a planned vote to amend the State’s immigration law known as HB 56.  A vote was planned for this week.  Apparently the sponsors of the Bill are divided over provisions that deal with business transactions.  At issue are provision that provide civil penalties to business owners that knowingly hire undocumented immigrants.

As the law currently stands there are automatic statutory penalties, which include the suspension of business licenses and the imposition of probationary periods.

I'll keep you posted as soon as more information becomes available.

Click here for the original source of this story.

Deportation Actions Against Criminal Aliens Decreasing

Syracuse University's TRAC Immigration reports that the Obama administration is instituting fewer deportation proceedings against individuals with criminal grounds of removal.

Here is what they found:

During the most recent quarter (January - March 2012), ICE sought to deport a total of 5,450 individuals on criminal grounds. While this number is preliminary and is likely to increase once late reports are in, it represents a drastic decrease compared with 10,732 individuals against whom ICE sought deportation orders just two years ago (during the period January - March 2010). 

They also determined that:

Court filings began dropping even before ICE Director John Morton issued his June 17, 2011 directive on prosecutorial discretion (PD), which outlined the manner in which enforcement activity could be focused on deporting serious criminals. Since that announcement, however, official court records show that rather than increasing, the number of deportations ordered on the basis of criminal activity has continued to decrease. Evidence from the most recent quarter show that the agency continues to be headed in the opposite direction from its stated goal. 

Click here to see the original report with charts and graphs that organize all of the data analyzed.

Alabama Senate Rejects Attempt to Repeal State Immigration Law

As of the writing of this blog there has been no vote on Sen. Scott Beason, R-Gardendale, and Rep. Micky Hammon, R-Decatur proposed changes to Alabama's immigration law HB 56.  

Yesterday, Sen. Billy Beasley, D-Clayton proposed to repeal the law entirely.  This attempt failed by a vote of 20 to 14.

As soon as I know more I'll post an update.

Alabama State Senator Beason's Proposed Senate Floor Substitute to HB658

Below is the text of the proposed substitute bill.  Have at it.

Senator Beason's Proposed Senate Floor Substitute to HB658