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Letter of the Week - Deporting Illegal Immigrants from Prison

Every week, 2,000 - 3,000 Second District residents write to me about the issues pending before Congress, and I work hard to respond to each person as promptly and thoughtfully as possible.  On this "Letter of the Week" blog, I highlight constituent letters that are of general interest.  If you'd like to share your own views, please feel free to e-mail me at any time!

 Dear Congresswoman Nancy Boyda,

Please support the plan by ICE head Julie Myers that would allow local prison officials to determine the legal status of foreign-born inmates.

America's prison system is suffering from chronic overcrowding and America itself is hurting from the influx of illegal aliens. Julie Myers' plan would help alleviate both problems.

Prison officials would be able to determine the immigration status of inmates and could turn less-dangerous illegal inmates over to federal authorities for deportation. More dangerous inmates would be handed over to federal authorities upon their release instead of being released into society. This is clearly a win-win situation.

Please do all you can to insure that Miss Myers' plan is fully funded and implemented.

Sincerely,

Bob from Topeka, KS

Dear Bob,

Thank you for reaching out to my office on the important issue of criminal illegal immigrants. It sounds like you're as concerned about this as I am. It shouldn't be this hard. As your representative, I both need and value your opinion on this important issue.

I am as frustrated as you are about the lack of enforcement of our current immigration laws. We are working in Congress to begin to address these issues, but as you know, there are special interest groups at work against common-sense immigration reforms, and this is making it difficult to make any progress on these important issues. I want you to know that I am working hard every day to advance legislation on enforcing our immigration laws and holding employers accountable when they knowingly hire illegal immigrants.

On March 28, 2008, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced a renewed effort to deport criminal illegal immigrants after they have served their time in jail. This effort is called Secure Communities: A Comprehensive Plan to Identify and Remove Criminal Aliens. Currently, ICE screens and deports criminal illegal immigrants from federal prison but only has regular contact with about 10% of the approximately 3,100 local prisons and jails in the country. This program will build on the relationships that ICE has with local law enforcement and national law enforcement groups to expand screening to make sure that once a criminal illegal immigrant has served their time in jail they are deported rather than released back into the community. Last year ICE deported approximately 95,000 criminal illegal immigrants.

I support this program and will work with my colleagues to make sure that it receives the funding that is possible.

Thank you for contacting my office on this important issue. As your representative, I both need and value your perspective. I hope you will continue to keep in touch and let me know whenever I may be of future assistance. 

Sincerely,
Rep. Boyda's signature
Nancy Boyda
Member of Congress