Immigration enforcement has fallen off drastically in the past year with tens of thousands of criminal illegal aliens being released back into communities, according to a new report released Wednesday by the
Center for Immigration Studies in Washington.
Among the report's findings include a 34 percent decrease for interior deportations from 2013 as well as a 15 percent decline of deportations at the port of entry from 2013 to 2014, the CIS reported.
The report, which used Immigration and Customs Enforcement records, cited ongoing "catch and release" efforts that saw just 143,00 illegal aliens out of 585,000 be sent for deportation processing. Noted the CIS: "Tens of thousands of those let go by ICE agents had been labeled a criminal threat.”
The center also noted that nearly 900,000 illegals remain in the U.S. after receiving a final order of removal. Of that figure, the CIS added, an estimated 160,000 are convicted criminals who remain at large.
The report's author, Jessica Vaughan, who serves as director of policy studies, noted a pattern of flouting current immigration laws that could ultimately bring harm to U.S. citizens.
“Prosecutorial discretion as practiced by the Obama administration has transformed immigration enforcement into a massive catch-and-release program that makes a joke of the law, fails to deter illegal settlement, and allows even illegal aliens who commit crimes to remain here,” Vaughan said in a statement.
“These policies inflict real harm on Americans and legal immigrants, in the form of lost jobs, depressed wages, additional social services, and even lost lives," she added. "In addition, with the rise of ISIS and other terrorist groups around the world, our lax policies represent an unnecessary national security risk.”
Immigration advocates, however, have described efforts by ICE to deport illegals as "out of control,"
the Huffington Post noted, citing a report released by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network last week, which describes "rogue" law enforcement conducting "raids."
Noted one unnamed organizer in the report: "It's like someone eating all the ice cream in the freezer on Sunday knowing they’re going on a diet on Monday. ICE is more out of control than ever."
The study highlighted the
need for action and what it described as "the human cost of postponing reforms."
As Congress has failed to act on immigration, many cities are refusing to cooperate with government efforts on deportations,
the Washington Post reported.
Noted the Post of the municipal immigration dilemmas: "In many ways, cities with large and deeply rooted immigrant populations have interests here directly at odds with ICE. They have scarce resources to devote to public safety, which they believe are better spent addressing actual crime than federal immigration."
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