Immigration Amnesty Pushed Through Back Door In Houston Federal Courts
As voters and candidates debate the issue of illegal immigration and immigration amnesty, a sharply increasing number of illegal immigrants are getting “amnesty” not through Congress but in the courtroom. The Houston Chronicle reports an increase of more than 700 percent in dismissals of immigration violation charges since the Department of Homeland Security started reviewing cases in the Houston federal courts.
According to data provided by the Executive Office for Immigration Review,which oversees the nation’s immigration court system, the number of dismissed immigration cases skyrocketed from 27 in July to 217 in August and 174 in September. The Houston Chronicle reports as follows.
“In early August, federal attorneys in Houston started filing unsolicited motions to dismiss cases involving suspected illegal immigrants who have lived in the country for years without committing serious crimes.
News of the dismissals, first reported in the Houston Chronicle in late August, caused a national controversy amid allegations that the Obama administration was implementing a kind of “backdoor amnesty” — a charge officials strongly denied.
The Houston Chronicle further reports that attorneys in the system are corroborating the story told by the statistics. The Houston Chronicle continues as follows.
In recent weeks, some immigration attorneys reported the dismissals have slowed somewhat, while others reported they now have to ask ICE trial attorneys to exercise prosecutorial discretion in order to have their cases dismissed. ”
The dismissal of charges against illegal immigration charges does not, however preclude the possibility of the federal government filing charges later.In order to qualify for the dismissal, defendants must not have any record of felony convictions or of certain misdemeanor charges involving DWI, sex crimes or domestic violence.
The de facto amnesty has its defenders. Many immigration lawyers and advocates of immigration reform cite the huge backlog of immigration cases, some of which are already being scheduled to be heard in 2012.
Why is the government effectively jumping over the bench and standing along side the defendants by filing motions for dismissal of charges in these cases? Why is there a sharp increase in dismissals of cases? New guidelines are being quietly circulated and the public has no knowledge of what they might be. Additionally, this lenient treatment in the courts sends a message to others who are contemplating illegal entry into the US that the Americans are not serious about enforcing their laws.
Americans can vote for leaders who share their views on immigration, but there is almost no recourse against judges who overturn or refuse to enforce the nation’s immigration laws. If this is what Americans want, let it be done through the legislature in open debate and not behind the closed doors of judicial chambers.
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12:59 pm
Perhaps you should get the facts before you blog on this issue. The ONLY cases being dismissed from Immigration Court by ICE are those where in the individual alien is seeking specific relief from the Immigration Judge that can also be given by USCIS. ICE is merely transferring those cases to USCIS jurisdiction and trying, in vain really, to lessen the number of cases in Court. Since the Court backlog for most cases to be tried is over 2 years, and the delay at USCIS is less than 6 months, this appears to be a smart use of limited government resources. Also, the memo directing ICE attorneys on this matter is available on web. Perhaps you did not have time to look for it.
5:49 pm
By moving to dismiss cases for people who have stayed out of trouble, the agency will be better able to use its limited resources to more rapidly deport those with serious criminal records, supporters said.
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The ONLY cases being dismissed from Immigration Court by ICE are those where in the individual alien is seeking specific relief from the Immigration Judge that can also be given by USCIS. ICE is merely transferring those cases to USCIS jurisdiction
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I can’t tell if I smell a rat or not. But in his speeches, he proposed we dismiss those cases, and he seems to have done exactly that, and allow them amnesty if they accomplish the other elements of the ‘comprehensive’ reform he is so hot for. I see it as having a fox guard the chicken house, and I believe that because Obama is reasonably sure he won’t be re-elected, he is ..determined.. to get something in place that the Democratic Party can point to, and regain what they are going to loose in the coming elections.
And the business of limited government resources. The cost of the illegal aliens after they have embedded in our society is staggering. He claims to be doing more than any other administration, but you just don’t use a tea cup when the Mississippi floods: you do what you have to to get the job done. So yes he is spending more to get it done, but the percentage of illegal aliens he has dealt with per the number crossing, and already embedded, is dismal when compared to some others. He has to revert to the total cost compared to others as the only means to look good.
Further, when does this guy quite manipulating the American People on this issue. He said:
“The United States was established on principles that support the welcoming of new residents to our shores to learn and embrace American civic culture and political institutions through the processes of immigration and naturalization. Over the past several decades, however, immigration policy has become skewed, falsely presented as an uncompromising decision between unfettered immigration and none at all.”
It is NOT his job to decide the issue… it is the job of the American People. NOT him.. US Citizens. Nor, in fact, did he get it right!
5:34 am
Immigration Attorney, we are simply reporting what was found on the Houston Chronicle and various other sources. As an Aggregation service our mission is to break down news already reported into shorter stories with just the needed details.