Obama’s Record of Dismantling Immigration Enforcement
and taking jobs from Americans and giving them to illegal aliens
Since 2009, the Obama Administration has systematically gutted effective immigration enforcement. Unable to pass an amnesty bill, Obama adopted a strategy of:
1) Refusing to enforce immigration laws as passed by Congress. 2) Using Executive orders to bypass Congress and rewrite existing law. 3) Brought lawsuits against EVERY state that attempted to enforce immigration laws that Obama is refusing to enforce. 4) Implement “prosecutorial discretion” to the point where it has rendered many immigration laws meaningless. 5) Has made no effort to reign in "sanctuary cities" that declare that immigration laws will not be enforced in their city. 6) Lying about the number of illegal aliens deported. Obama “Cooks the Books” to show a record number of deportations.
EVERY person put in charge of enforcing immigration law under Obama is AGAINST enforcing immigration law as it is written!!!
- 2009 -
April 8, 2009 - Obama’s Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, Cecilia Muñoz, a member of the hate group La Raza says the President “intends to start the [amnesty] debate this year.” During the presidential campaign, Obama said that comprehensive immigration legislation, including a plan to make legal status possible for an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants, would be a priority in his first year in office.[1]
April 30, 2009 - On Feb. 24, 2009, 28 illegal aliens were arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at the Yamato Engine Specialist plant in Bellingham, Washington. After the raid, supporters of illegal immigration demanded Obama end worksite raids. The next day, Napolitano announced that other raids would be delayed while she reviews policies under which ICE agents carry out these actions. Only one illegal was deported and the remaining workers were offered legal permission to work in the United States. Immigration attorneys said offering work permits under these circumstances is highly unusual.[2]
On April 30, Napolitano issued a revised set of guidelines, directing ICE agents to focus more on arresting and prosecuting employers and less on the illegal immigrants they hire. “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) released a new worksite enforcement strategy which moved away from large worksite raids and toward more effective auditing and investigations.”[3] While this directive appears excellent on the surface, it is all a scam.
In 1986, President Reagan passed a bill mandating all prospective employees fill out form I-9 declaring you are legal to work in the US. But because of massive fraud and counterfeiting, the I-9 has become useless. Immigrants who enter the US illegally obviously are not going to tell the truth on an I-9, so they bring forged documents with them. For instance, the co-owner of Yamato Engine Specialist, Shirin Dhanani Makalai said she is confident the investigation will show her company "complied fully with the law."
Using E-Verify is the most effective way to catch illegals who lie on I-9 forms to prospective employers.[4] E-Verify compares information on the I-9 form with Social Security Administration records and/or immigration records for discrepancies. But E-Verify is voluntary in most states. During an ICE audit of a business, they use E-Verify to find illegal workers. Employers are then required to terminate those workers who lied on their I-9 and are in the US illegally. Under Obama, the cost to the illegal alien worker is not deportation, but simply the need to find a new employer. So nothing is really being solved. The illegal is still in the US illegally taking jobs from Americans. Going after the employer is only effective when illegals are deliberately being hired, but this is usually not the case.
Obama’s decision to curtail worksite enforcement sends a clear message to illegal aliens that they will not be penalized for presenting forged documents to employers. They just need to find another job. This grossly irresponsible announcement by DHS is will result in rising unemployment among American citizens and encourage further illegal immigration.[5]
July 10, 2009 - DHS Rewrites 287(g) standards so as to create two classes of illegal aliens - those that get deported and those who are - in effect, given amnesty and allowed to stay and work in the US. DHS announces the new standards will “address concerns that individuals may be arrested for minor offenses as a guise to initiate removal proceedings.” Law enforcement can only check immigration status for those arrested for violent crimes such as rape, burglary and major drug offenses.[6]
- 2010 -
March 17, 2010 - Holder’s Dept of “Justice” threatens employers who use E-Verify with fines for possible discriminatory practices or citizenship-status “discrimination.” Everything will now be done in English and Spanish. This includes setting up an employee hotline for filing a complaint regarding possible discrimination by your employer. The employee hotline (888-897-7781) became active on April 5, 2010. You can only use E-Verify AFTER you hired the employee and information must be kept confidential.
If you use E-verify any other way you will be investigated by Holder’s Dept. of “Justice” and fined $1,100 to $10,000 per violation. An employer could also lose his ability to use E-Verify if he “discriminates.” An employer who is just being a good citizens and uses E-Verify to find out if someone is in the US illegally, you are now a criminal - because you “discriminated.” In Obama/Holder America, right is now wrong, and wrong is now right. Call E-Verify at 1-888-464-4218 or 1-800-255-8155-1-2 to find out for yourself.[7] According to the 82 page E-Verify User Manual for Employers, If DHS determines the individual is in the US illegally, his employment is terminated.[8] (See page 44)
May 19, 2010 - In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, ICE Director John Morton announces that his agency may not process illegal aliens transferred to the agency’s custody by Arizona officials - even though the law requires federal authorities to do so. Morton —putting politics ahead of the safety of the American people — is critical of Arizona’s new immigration law, SB 1070.[9]
May 27, 2010 - ICE, working with a private prison contractor, makes “upgrades” to nine detention facilities housing illegal aliens offering art classes, bingo and continental breakfast on the weekends. All the while, ICE claims they don’t have the financial resources to process “low-priority” illegals.[10]
June 2, 2010 - The Obama Administration files an amicus brief on behalf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down a 2007 Arizona law that punishes employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens. “The Legal Arizona Workers Act,” signed by then Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, now Obama’s DHS chief, required all Arizona employers to use the federal E-Verify system. Napolitano is now trying to overturn a bill she signed into law!![11]
June 26, 2010 - Obama appoints an outspoken critic of immigration enforcement as the new head of ICE’s 287(g) program, which deputizes local law enforcement agents so that they are able to identify illegal aliens by allowing them to investigate a suspect’s immigration status after an arrest has been made. Harold Hurtt, Former Houston and Phoenix police chief has been highly critical of the very program he has been appointed to lead.[12]
July 6, 2010 - Obama’s Justice Department officially files suit against Arizona to stop the state’s immigration enforcement law, SB 1070, from taking effect. Disregarding Congressional intent that federal immigration laws be enforced, the complaint states that if SB 1070 were to take effect, it would “conflict with and undermine the federal government’s careful balance of immigration enforcement priorities and objectives.”[13] Gov Jan Brewer attacked critics of the bill. "We in Arizona have been more than patient waiting for Washington to act," Brewer said after signing the law. The law represents another tool for the state to "work to solve a crisis we did not create and the federal government has refused to fix - the crisis caused by illegal immigration and Arizona's porous border.”[14][15]
July 14, 2010 - A week after suing Arizona to block its immigration enforcement law, SB 1070, the DOJ says it will not sue sanctuary cities (cities that refuse to prosecute illegals) for openly defying federal immigration law.[16]
July 30, 2010 - An official USCIS memo leaked to the pubic reveals the Administration’s intent to circumvent Congress on immigration policy and grant amnesty administratively. In the memo, entitled “Administrative Alternatives to Comprehensive Immigration Reform,” senior officials at USCIS offer Director Alejandro Mayorkas a variety of ways to “reduce the threat of removal for certain individuals present in the United States without authorization” and extend benefits and protections to many individuals and groups until amnesty is granted.[17]
August 24, 2010 - The Houston Chronicle reveals that DHS has begun to dismiss deportation proceedings against certain aliens, in reality granting them amnesty. According to the paper, DHS began systematically reviewing thousands of pending immigration cases and moving to dismiss those filed against suspected illegal aliens without serious criminal records. Subsequent reports by the Chronicle reveal the policy shift resulted in Texas immigration courts dismissing hundreds of deportation cases and increasing the rate of dismissal of such cases 700 percent between July and August of 2010.[18]
September 16, 2010 - A 10-page memo leaked to The American Spectator magazine, and dated February 26, 2010, details how DHS intends to violate existing immigration law and grant a two-phase amnesty program to legalize “those who qualify and intend to stay here.” The memo should also have stated these illegals will take more jobs from Americans.[19][20]
December 6, 2010 - In October, DHS announced it had “removed more illegal aliens than in any other period in the history of our nation” during the 2010 fiscal year. However, an investigation by the Washington Post indicates the Department’s record number of 392,862 deportations was padded by about 26,000.[21]
- 2011 -
January 26, 2011 - In testimony before the Committee on the Judiciary in the House of Representatives, Rep. Lamar Smith (Republican of Texas) stated: “Worksite enforcement has plummeted under the Obama administration. Administrative arrests have fallen 77 percent from 2008 to 2010. Criminal arrests have fallen 60 percent. Criminal indictments have fallen 57 percent, and criminal convictions have fallen 66 percent. And the number of the investigative hours devoted to worksite enforcement has fallen by 34 percent in the last 2 years. How does the Administration justify these policies? With millions of Americans unemployed, it is hard to imagine a worse time to cut worksite enforcement efforts by more than half.”[22]
“And what happens to the illegal workers who are seldom arrested? They go down the street and knock on the door of the next employer and take possibly another job from an American worker. Citizens and legal immigrants should not be forced to compete with illegal workers for jobs. All the Administration has to do is conduct worksite enforcement. Twenty-six million Americans who are unemployed or underemployed are asking the question, Mr. President, why aren’t you protecting American jobs?’’[23]
April 13, 2011 - Obama Administration exposed for suspending over 34,448 Deportations of Illegal Aliens in 2010 — According to data USCIS sent to Senator Chuck Grassley’s (Republican of Iowa) office. Elton Gallegly, Republican of California, declared Obama “should not selectively enforce the law. Amnesty — whether universal or selective — only encourages illegal immigration.”[24]
April 27, 2011 - Witnesses testify in front of the House Border and Maritime Subcommittee that due to massive illegal activity, federal prosecutors in districts along the Southwest border decline to charge drug smugglers and illegal border crossers unless the amount of narcotics and/or aliens smuggled into the country reaches a certain threshold. Clearly, Obama’s selective enforcement of immigration law is playing a roll in this escalation.[25]
May 10, 2011 - Although the border fence between the US and Mexico is far from complete, checks on both borders have decreased, violence along the border continues and illegal entry into the US continues at an alarming pace, Obama, in a speech in El Paso, Texas, tells Americans the border is secure. The President quickly follows these remarks by declaring that it is now time for Congress to pass “comprehensive” immigration reform - meaning amnesty.[26]
July 26, 2011 - President of the National ICE Council, Chris Crane, a union representing roughly 7,200 ICE agents, officers and employees, casts a “Vote of No-Confidence” in ICE Director John Morton and Assistant Director of the ICE Office of Detention and Policy and Planning, Phyllis Coven. The vote reflects “the growing dissatisfaction among ICE employees and Union Leaders that Director Morton and Assistant Director Phyllis Coven have abandoned the Agency’s core mission of enforcing United States immigration laws and enforcing public safety, and have instead directed their attention to campaigning for programs and policies relating to amnesty…” This is the first time in American history that immigration agents have issued a no confidence vote in their leadership.[27]
July 6, 2011 - Obama quietly signs agreement to open U.S. borders to long haul Mexican trucks. A provision of NAFTA granting Mexican trucks access to U.S. highways has repeatedly been delayed due to a number of safety and drug smuggling concerns. Over strenuous opposition from the Teamster Union, Obama sided with Mexico even though the U.S. lacks the capability to inspect more than a small fraction of the trucks that will be crossing the border. This terrible decision by Obama gives drug cartels huge new opportunities to smuggle drugs and humans into the US.[28][29]
August 18, 2011 - In an unprecedented - and illegal - move, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announces that DHS will no longer deport “low-priority” illegal aliens. DHS will execute ‘a case-by-case review” of all pending and incoming deportation cases. According to Napolitano, DHS will issue guidance to prevent “low-priority” (currently over 300,000) cases from even entering the system in the first place. This case-by-case approach, Napolitano writes, “will enhance public safety.” This administration’s refusal to deport “low-priority” aliens encourages greater illegal immigration. This is an absolute violation of the law Napolitano took an oath to uphold.[30][31]
October 27, 2011 - The Department of Homeland Security's Border Patrol in Washington, D.C. has ordered Border Patrol sectors nationwide to end all routine checks of transportation hubs and systems located away from the southwest border of the United States. From now on transportation checks may only be conducted if intelligence identifies a specific threat. This order prevents agents from using what had long been an effective tool for catching illegals and terrorists.[32]
December 15, 2011 - DOJ racist Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez, accuses Maricopa County of Discrimination Against Latinos. Without an opportunity to defend itself, and no regard for public safety or the rule of law, DHS ILLEGALLY rescinds 287(g) Agreements with Maricopa County, Arizona. It is unclear how ICE can refuse to respond to inquiries from MCSO deputies and not directly violate 8 U.S.C. § 1373(c), which requires the federal government to respond to inquiries by law enforcement agencies to verify immigration status.[33]
December 29, 2011 - In a last minute 2011 move, ICE director Morton makes significant changes to its detainer policies. First, ICE creates a 24/7 hotline - (855) 448-6903 - that detained individuals can call if they believe they may be a victim of a crime. The hotline is to be staffed by the Law Enforcement Support Center (LESC) with translators available. This is the same organization that Morton says is too understaffed to keep up with immigration status check requests from state and local law enforcement. Second, ICE revises its detainer form to include a new provision that allows ICE agents to “Consider this request for a detainer operative only upon the subject’s conviction.”
This shift in policy to a discretionary “post-conviction” model ignores the fact that being in the country illegally is a violation of federal law while simultaneously welcoming criminal aliens back onto the streets.[34]
- 2012 -
January 3, 2012 - The Office of the Inspector General released a report that reveals that senior U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officials are pressuring employees to rubber-stamp applications for immigration benefits despite questions of fraud or ineligibility. According to the report, nearly 25 percent of officers surveyed reported that a supervisor has asked them to approve applications that should have been denied, and 90 percent said they felt they didn’t have sufficient time to complete interviews of those who seek benefits. The report comes amid allegations made by agency employees that if they do not approve enough applications, they will be demoted or forced to relocate.[35]
January 19, 2012 - Amnesty Pilot Review — Administration attorneys in Denver and Baltimore recommend that the agency drop 1,667 removal cases, which will release illegal aliens already in proceedings back onto the streets without consequence for violating U.S. immigration law, in effect, given amnesty.[36]
January 19, 2012 - Obama issues an executive order that will make it easier for aliens to obtain nonimmigrant visas by waiving screening safeguards, a move that increases the risk for visa overstays and jeopardizes national security. The order directs the Secretaries of State and DHS to come up with a plan that: (1) increases nonimmigrant visa processing in China and Brazil by 40 percent in the coming year; and (2) ensures that 80 percent of nonimmigrant visa applicants are interviewed within three weeks of the government receiving their application.
In a release issued the same day as the order, the State Department announces that it will accomplish the order in part by waiving the long-standing statutory requirement that aliens seeking to renew visas undergo in-person interviews with a consular officer. Because the order applies to all “nonimmigrant visas,” it will relax the screening process for not only the tens of millions of tourists and business travelers who enter the U.S. each year, but also for hundreds of thousands of guest workers.[37]
February 7, 2012 - ICE Creates Public Advocate Position to Lobby for Illegal Aliens — ICE announces the creation of a new position within the agency, Public Advocate. The Public Advocate is to serve as a point of contact for aliens in removal proceedings, community and advocacy groups, and others who have concerns, questions, recommendations, or other issues they would like to raise about the Administration’s executive amnesty efforts. ICE appoints senior advisor for the Agency’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) division, Andrew Lorenz-Strait, to head the new position.[38]
February 13, 2012 - Obama’s 2013 budget not only proposes cutting funding for ICE by 4 percent, Obama also proposes decreasing funds for border security inspections and trade facilitation between points of entry by $6 million, and decreasing funds for border security fencing, infrastructure, and technology by $72.9 million.[39]
March 1. 2012 - The nation's sheriffs are united in support of full enforcement of immigration laws and want to be involved. The sheriffs want Congress to provide more resources for enforcement, pay more attention to worksites (including mandatory E-Verify), and expand the 287(g) program according to a position paper developed by the group's Immigration and Border Security Committee and approved by the organization’s national board of directors. "It is critical that local law enforcement maintain and build upon the partnerships with federal law enforcement to ensure that collectively we can promote, protect, and preserve the public safety and homeland security."[40]
March 1. 2012 - Chairman Darrell Issa (Republican of California) and Rep. Jason Chaffetz (Republican of Utah), of The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform demanded answers about the misleading data from Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano. Issa and Chaffetz suggest the number of illegal border crossings is substantially higher than that previously reported by Customs and Border Protection (CBP). “[T]he numbers appear to dramatically understate the volume of individuals who cross the border illegally and are neither arrested nor turned back south (‘got-aways’).”[41][42]
April 27, 2012 - Obama Administration shifts its policy on Secure Communities to stop the enforcement of immigration law against illegal aliens apprehended for “minor traffic offenses.” When Secure Communities identifies illegal aliens pursuant to a traffic offense, ICE will no longer ask the local jails to detain the illegal aliens so that ICE may begin deportation proceedings; rather, ICE will only consider detaining an alien if the alien is ultimately convicted of the offense. Moreover, despite claims of limited resources, ICE also announced it plans to take action against jurisdictions with arrest rates the agency deems too high. If you do your job well, you are a racist in Obama’s America. The new policy is the latest step in the Administration’s effort to destroy effective border security and grant amnesty to large numbers of illegals.[43]
June 15, 2012 - Obama Administration Unilaterally Implements DREAM Act; 1.4 Million Illegal Aliens Set for Removal Reprieve — The Obama Administration announces it will circumvent Congress by using prosecutorial discretion to implement unilaterally the DREAM Act. Effective immediately, DHS will grant deferred action and possible work authorization to certain illegal aliens under the age of 30 who claim they arrived in the U.S. before 16 years of age. DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano expects that 800,000 illegal aliens will be granted amnesty through the effort, but other organizations estimate the number of beneficiaries will be 1.4 million or higher.[44]
Obama vigorously defends his actions at a White House press briefing despite the fact that in March 2011, he told an audience that he did not have the authority to unilaterally suspend deportations, “With respect to the notion that I can just suspend deportations through executive order, that’s just not the case…Congress passes the law. The executive branch’s job is to enforce and implement those laws…There are enough laws on the books by Congress that are very clear in terms of how we have to enforce our immigration system that for me to simply through executive order ignore those congressional mandates would not conform with my appropriate role as President.”[45] Obama should be impeached for this and many other violations of the Constitution.
Napolitano: Parents of “DREAMers” Won’t Face Enforcement Either —In an appearance on CNN to promote the Administration’s executive amnesty, DHS Secretary Napolitano quells fears that parents of illegal aliens applying for deferred action may be subject to immigration enforcement. The Secretary says, “We have internally set it up so that the parents are not referred for immigration enforcement if the young person comes in for deferred action.” The announcement reveals that the Administration is pursuing a broad-based plan.
Massively expanding amnesty to illegal alien parents who knowingly entered the country unlawfully dramatically undercuts the President’s argument that he simply granted amnesty to “kids” who were brought here through “no fault of their own.”[46]
On June 25, 2012 - the Supreme Court upheld the so-called “show me your papers” provision in Arizona’s immigration law. Within hours, the Obama Administration announced they are suspending an essential program that lets state and local law enforcement agencies enforce federal immigration law.[47][48] This was done solely in spite and is typical of the vicious tactics used by this president in refusing to enforce laws he took an oath to uphold. It is also illegal for the Federal Government to cancel a 287(g) program without congressional consent - but the fascist Obama did it anyway. Obama’s tactics encourage illegal immigration, the loss of jobs by American citizens and is harmful to our economy, as much of the money Mexicans make goes back to Mexico.[49]
July 6, 2012 - Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announces it plans to close nine Border Patrol Stations across the United States. The station closures will take place at the following locations: Lubbock, Amarillo, Dallas, San Angelo, Abilene, and San Antonio, Texas; Billings, Montana; Twin Falls, Idaho; and Riverside, California. According to a CBP spokesman, the move to close these stations—many in strategic locations—is being done “[i]n order to accomplish [the agency’s] mission more efficiently and to use its personnel more effectively….” While CBP states that the closures will save the agency $1.3 million per year, it has yet to explain what the trade off will be in terms of illegal alien apprehensions and drugs seized.[50][51]
Aug 24, 2012 - The House Judiciary Committee has obtained internal U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) documents, which show that the Obama administration is cooking the books to achieve their so-called ‘record’ deportation numbers for illegal immigrants and that removals are actually significantly down – not up – from 2009. The 2011 removal total would drop from approximately 397,000 to roughly 360,000 and the 2012 removal total would drop from about 334,000 to around 263,000 (annualized, this is estimated to be a drop from about 400,000 to 315,000). This means that ICE removals for this year will be about 14% below 2008 (369,000) and 19% below 2009 (389,000).[52].
