Washington, Dec 1 -

Today, Rep. Gary Miller and several of his colleagues sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton urging the administration to fully enforce all federal immigration laws, not just a select few.

“Recently, DHS and ICE officials boasted the administration had deported more illegal immigrants in the past year than any other time in our nation’s history,” said Rep. Gary Miller.  “Although this seems to be quite the accomplishment, the facts reveal that the administration is not fully enforcing federal immigration law.”   

Over the years, ICE has developed a system in which it prioritizes the deportation of illegal immigrants who are dangerous or have committed serious crimes.  While there is good reason to prioritize the removal of illegal aliens who pose a danger to our communities, it would be unconscionable to simply abandon enforcement against all but violent criminals.  However, the implementation of this policy under the Obama administration has excessively limited enforcement against virtually all other immigration lawbreakers.  As a result, when local law enforcement agencies report illegal immigrants to ICE, more often than not ICE refuses to take them into custody because they are not classified as dangerous or serious criminals.  Consequently, non-criminal illegal alien deportations plummeted by 30 percent in FY 2010. 

 “As a result of the Obama administration’s misguided policy shift, our streets are less secure, millions of Americans remain unemployed, and illegal immigration continues to be a problem,” added Rep. Gary Miller.  “While serious criminals should be prioritized for removal, the Obama administration needs to do more than just enforce a few immigration laws.  After all, during the 2008 presidential campaign, it was then-Senator Obama who famously said ‘I think it is going to be part of the president’s job to be able to deal with more than one thing at once.’  Mr. President, now’s the time to do more than one thing at once.”

The letter was also signed by Reps. Dan Burton (IN-05), Jason Chaffetz (UT-03), Walter Jones (NC-03), Sue Myrick (NC-09), Dana Rohrabacher (CA-46), and Ed Royce (CA-40).

To view the letter, click here.

To read Rep. Gary Miller’s column on this issue, click here.  

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