Faced with the imminent onset of massive budget cuts, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has released an unspecified number of detainees who were being held pending deportation, illustrating the practical impact of a looming “sequester” that President Obama described Tuesday as a terrible way for the government to operate.
The announcement by the agency known as ICE, part of the Department of Homeland Security, dramatized the quandary posed for government bodies by the advent Friday of automatic, mandatory spending reductions totaling $1.2 trillion over 10 years. The cuts this fiscal year — amounting to $85 billion — are starting to force agencies to make some tough choices.
“In order to make the best use of our limited detention resources in the current fiscal climate and to manage our detention population under current congressionally mandated levels, ICE has directed field offices to review the detained population to ensure it is in line with available funding,” ICE spokeswoman Gillian Christensen said in a statement. “As a result of this review, a number of detained aliens have been released around the country and placed on an appropriate, more cost-effective form of supervised release.”
Congressional Republicans promptly denounced the releases, charging that the Obama administration was putting criminals onto the streets.
Speaking at a shipbuilding facility in Newport News, Va., Obama acknowledged Tuesday that sequestration cuts could lead to such outcomes, and he accused congressional Republicans of blocking a compromise agreement to avert them.
“Across the country, these cuts will force federal prosecutors to close cases and potentially let criminals go,” Obama said, listing likely impacts. “Air traffic controllers and airport security will see cutbacks, and that could cause delays at airports across the country. Tens of thousands of parents will have to scramble to find child care for their kids. Hundreds of thousands of Americans will lose access to primary care and preventive care like flu vaccinations and cancer screenings.”
Obama added: “So these cuts are wrong. They’re not smart. They’re not fair. They’re a self-inflicted wound that doesn’t have to happen.”
Historically, many illegal immigrants released from federal detention centers while in deportation proceedings fail to show up for subsequent court appearances, joining the ranks of what ICE calls absconders or “fugitive aliens.” According to the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors stricter immigration controls, as many as 59 percent of people in removal proceedings abscond. The group estimates that 500,000 to 600,000 such fugitives may be at large in the United States, accounting for as much as 5 percent of the total illegal immigrant population.
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano warned separately Tuesday that Americans would be less safe if federal agencies have to absorb the major cuts set to go into effect Friday. Holder said in a speech that law enforcement agencies would try to minimize the effects of the cuts but that “the reality is there is going to be harm.”
Napolitano, addressing the Brookings Institution, said the cuts would “affect our core critical mission areas.
With the sequestration deadline approaching, House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) made clear Tuesday that he has no interest in new House legislation to deal with the issue, instead calling on the Senate to “get off their ass” and take action.
“We have moved a bill in the House twice,” Boehner told reporters following a closed-door meeting with House Republicans. “We should not have to move a third bill before the Senate gets off their ass and begins to do something.”
He referred to measures that the Republican-controlled House passed twice last year to replace this fiscal year’s $85 billion sequester by shifting defense cuts to domestic programs. Obama and congressional Democrats reject such a solution, describing it as a shredding of the social safety net.
Taking his case to the public, the president appeared Tuesday at the site of key naval installations and a massive shipyard to highlight the impact of the cuts. In a speech at a nuclear submarine facility in Newport News, Va., he blamed House Republicans for the impasse.
“There are too many Republicans in Congress right now who refuse to compromise even an inch when it comes to closing tax loopholes and special-interest tax breaks” in order to raise new revenue to narrow the deficit, he said. “And that’s what’s holding things up right now.”
“All we’re asking is that they close loopholes for the well-off and well-connected ... so we can avoid laying off workers, or kicking kids off Head Start, or reducing financial aid for college students,” Obama said.
“The majority of the American people agree with me,” he said. “We need to get this done. But the choice is up to Congress. Only Congress has the power to pass a law that stops these damaging cuts and replaces them with smart savings and tax reform.”
Obama rejected the idea that a solution is to just give him “some flexibility” so that he can make the cuts himself in the least damaging way.
“When you’re cutting $85 billion in seven months,” including cuts of more than 10 percent in defense, “there’s no smart way to do that,” Obama said. “When you’re doing things in a way that’s not smart, you can’t gloss over the pain and the impact it’s going to have on the economy.”
“We can’t just cut our way to prosperity,” Obama told the crowd of workers, local officials and other dignitaries. He urged them to put pressure on their representatives in Congress to reach a compromise agreement.
In announcing the release of immigration detainees, ICE said it was not dropping their deportation cases. The agency said it would continue to prosecute the cases in immigration court while they are monitored outside detention facilities.
But ICE did not immediately provide details on the number of detainees who have been freed or the nature of their offenses. The agency has estimated that detention costs $122 per bed per day. It has been under pressure by immigration advocacy and civil-rights groups to rely on cheaper detention alternatives for those in deportation proceedings who do not pose a security threat. More cost-effective alternatives include electronic ankle-bracelet monitoring, telephone monitoring and community-based monitoring programs.
In a news briefing Monday before the releases were announced, Napolitano indicated that sequestration would affect detention policy. “I’m supposed to have 34,000 detention beds for immigration,” she said. “How do I pay for those?”
Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, condemned the releases in a statement Tuesday, saying that the detainees “have either been charged or convicted of a crime, have a final order of deportation, are fugitives, or are suspected gang members.”
Goodlatte said it was “abhorrent that President Obama is releasing criminals into our communities to promote his political agenda on sequestration.” He charged that “the administration is needlessly endangering American lives,” as well as undermining efforts to reform the nation’s immigration laws.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
U.S: As sequester nears, immigration detainees are released
Faced with the imminent onset of massive budget cuts, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has released an unspecified number of detainees who were being held pending deportation, illustrating the practical impact of a looming “sequester” that President Obama described Tuesday as a terrible way for the government to operate.
The announcement by the agency known as ICE, part of the Department of Homeland Security, dramatized the quandary posed for government bodies by the advent Friday of automatic, mandatory spending reductions totaling $1.2 trillion over 10 years. The cuts this fiscal year — amounting to $85 billion — are starting to force agencies to make some tough choices.
“In order to make the best use of our limited detention resources in the current fiscal climate and to manage our detention population under current congressionally mandated levels, ICE has directed field offices to review the detained population to ensure it is in line with available funding,” ICE spokeswoman Gillian Christensen said in a statement. “As a result of this review, a number of detained aliens have been released around the country and placed on an appropriate, more cost-effective form of supervised release.”
Congressional Republicans promptly denounced the releases, charging that the Obama administration was putting criminals onto the streets.
Speaking at a shipbuilding facility in Newport News, Va., Obama acknowledged Tuesday that sequestration cuts could lead to such outcomes, and he accused congressional Republicans of blocking a compromise agreement to avert them.
“Across the country, these cuts will force federal prosecutors to close cases and potentially let criminals go,” Obama said, listing likely impacts. “Air traffic controllers and airport security will see cutbacks, and that could cause delays at airports across the country. Tens of thousands of parents will have to scramble to find child care for their kids. Hundreds of thousands of Americans will lose access to primary care and preventive care like flu vaccinations and cancer screenings.”
Obama added: “So these cuts are wrong. They’re not smart. They’re not fair. They’re a self-inflicted wound that doesn’t have to happen.”
Historically, many illegal immigrants released from federal detention centers while in deportation proceedings fail to show up for subsequent court appearances, joining the ranks of what ICE calls absconders or “fugitive aliens.” According to the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors stricter immigration controls, as many as 59 percent of people in removal proceedings abscond. The group estimates that 500,000 to 600,000 such fugitives may be at large in the United States, accounting for as much as 5 percent of the total illegal immigrant population.
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano warned separately Tuesday that Americans would be less safe if federal agencies have to absorb the major cuts set to go into effect Friday. Holder said in a speech that law enforcement agencies would try to minimize the effects of the cuts but that “the reality is there is going to be harm.”
Napolitano, addressing the Brookings Institution, said the cuts would “affect our core critical mission areas.
With the sequestration deadline approaching, House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) made clear Tuesday that he has no interest in new House legislation to deal with the issue, instead calling on the Senate to “get off their ass” and take action.
“We have moved a bill in the House twice,” Boehner told reporters following a closed-door meeting with House Republicans. “We should not have to move a third bill before the Senate gets off their ass and begins to do something.”
He referred to measures that the Republican-controlled House passed twice last year to replace this fiscal year’s $85 billion sequester by shifting defense cuts to domestic programs. Obama and congressional Democrats reject such a solution, describing it as a shredding of the social safety net.
Taking his case to the public, the president appeared Tuesday at the site of key naval installations and a massive shipyard to highlight the impact of the cuts. In a speech at a nuclear submarine facility in Newport News, Va., he blamed House Republicans for the impasse.
“There are too many Republicans in Congress right now who refuse to compromise even an inch when it comes to closing tax loopholes and special-interest tax breaks” in order to raise new revenue to narrow the deficit, he said. “And that’s what’s holding things up right now.”
“All we’re asking is that they close loopholes for the well-off and well-connected ... so we can avoid laying off workers, or kicking kids off Head Start, or reducing financial aid for college students,” Obama said.
“The majority of the American people agree with me,” he said. “We need to get this done. But the choice is up to Congress. Only Congress has the power to pass a law that stops these damaging cuts and replaces them with smart savings and tax reform.”
Obama rejected the idea that a solution is to just give him “some flexibility” so that he can make the cuts himself in the least damaging way.
“When you’re cutting $85 billion in seven months,” including cuts of more than 10 percent in defense, “there’s no smart way to do that,” Obama said. “When you’re doing things in a way that’s not smart, you can’t gloss over the pain and the impact it’s going to have on the economy.”
“We can’t just cut our way to prosperity,” Obama told the crowd of workers, local officials and other dignitaries. He urged them to put pressure on their representatives in Congress to reach a compromise agreement.
In announcing the release of immigration detainees, ICE said it was not dropping their deportation cases. The agency said it would continue to prosecute the cases in immigration court while they are monitored outside detention facilities.
But ICE did not immediately provide details on the number of detainees who have been freed or the nature of their offenses. The agency has estimated that detention costs $122 per bed per day. It has been under pressure by immigration advocacy and civil-rights groups to rely on cheaper detention alternatives for those in deportation proceedings who do not pose a security threat. More cost-effective alternatives include electronic ankle-bracelet monitoring, telephone monitoring and community-based monitoring programs.
In a news briefing Monday before the releases were announced, Napolitano indicated that sequestration would affect detention policy. “I’m supposed to have 34,000 detention beds for immigration,” she said. “How do I pay for those?”
Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, condemned the releases in a statement Tuesday, saying that the detainees “have either been charged or convicted of a crime, have a final order of deportation, are fugitives, or are suspected gang members.”
Goodlatte said it was “abhorrent that President Obama is releasing criminals into our communities to promote his political agenda on sequestration.” He charged that “the administration is needlessly endangering American lives,” as well as undermining efforts to reform the nation’s immigration laws.
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