Immigration Officials Set Deportation Quotas, Shifting Focus from Dangerous Illegal Immigrants
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Contrary to its public policies that promise to focus on dangerous criminals, top officials in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE) service are requiring ICE agents to meet a quota of 400,000 arrests this year, indicating the agency intends to operate like it did under President George W. Bush and conduct mass deportations of illegal immigrants.
According to ICE internal documents and communications obtained by The Washington Post, the agency’s leadership appears to be unhappy with the rate of deportations and wants agents to ramp up arrests—which would mean going after non-criminals as well as violent felons. ICE intends to expand its detention centers in order to accommodate the quota goal.
When asked about the quota, an ICE spokesman told the newspaper that some of the plans were “inconsistent” with administration policy, and that the agency intended to “clarify” the situation.
http://www.allgov.com/Controversies/ViewNews/Immigration_Officials_Set_Deportation_Quotas_Shifting_Focus_from_Dangerous_Illegal_Immigrants_100331