Wednesday, April 2, 2014

68,000 illegal immigrants with criminal convictions released in 2013!

An internal Department of Homeland Security document compiling statistics on arrests and deportations in 2013 showed that ICE agents encountered 193,357 illegal immigrants with criminal convictions but issued charging documents for only 125,478. More than 67,800 were released.

The data came from an end-of-year “Weekly Departures and Detention Report.”

What does this specific data have to do with Homeland Security or my blog today? A lot! The Center for Immigration Studies reports that ICE officials moved to deport 28 percent fewer illegal immigrants from the interior of the country in 2013 than in 2012. The issue at hand is security, but more so this issue has to do with family. The issue is too complex for resolve to arise in my blog. However, it is important enough not to ignore. If these illegal immigrants didn’t host this status, they would be released back to their families here in America with no notice. The fact is overcrowding in the prison system is the root of this problem. And then there are issues of addiction, covered by many insurance companies as a medical condition, that leads to arrest.

When an illegal immigrant is arrested because of addiction and he or she has young children here- what do we do? Deportation requires resources and most of the time it isn’t effective. Does their status truly remove the human element or make them less worthy then the thousands of Americans arrested each and every year and also released because we have an overcrowding problem here at home?

Senator Jeff Sessions recently told the media “DHS is a department in crisis!” And related to this issue, it may be. We can’t burn the candle at both ends. We can’t have the TSA treat our own citizens as criminals coming in and out of the country because of a potential security risk or the Lone Wolf element when we let thousands of illegal immigrants, who can pose a security risk, go Scott fee. However, punishing those arrested because of addiction and who have families establishing themselves in this country isn’t fair, either. What do we do?

In my opinion, we need a case-by-case assessment of each situation. This is going to require resources, time and patience, something our country is already low on. What I do know is how the DHS is handling this subject matter isn’t working. Neither side is happy, tons of money is being wasted and we don’t have the resources to keep up this facade.

Until tomorrow,

Twyla Garrett

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