ICE Agent Facing Suspension over Arrest of Illegal Alien

By Todd Starnes of Fox Radio News we learn that a veteran Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent is facing suspension after he refused to release an illegal immigrant who was not considered a priority target under the Obama Administration’s new immigration enforcement policies, according to documents provided exclusively to Fox News.

“They’re punishing law enforcement officers who are just trying to uphold U.S. law,” said Chris Crane, president of the National ICE Council. Crane is a union representative acting on the unidentified officer’s behalf.

The officer under fire is an 18-year law enforcement and military veteran. On March 27 he and another officer were conducting surveillance on a vehicle in Newark, Del. with plates that were registered to a criminal alien target. During the surveillance, they observed an individual get into the vehicle. The person was detained, questioned and taken to an ICE office so that his fingerprints could be run through a federal database.

The individual was not their criminal alien target. However, he was a 35-year-old illegal immigrant from Mexico who had ten previous traffic violations – including driving without a license. “The officer made the determination using prosecutorial discretion that he would charge (the suspect) as being in the United States illegally and let the judge sort it out,” Crane said. “That’s our place in the universe,” he said. “We’re supposed to make arrests and let the judges and the legal system sort through the details.”

Instead, two supervising officers, including the acting field director, intervened and ordered the officer to release the illegal immigrant. The acting field director sat down with the illegal and explained that he was going to be let go because he was not a “presidential priority,” Crane said. In essence, the supervising officers took on the role of a public defender. “You had the supervisors intervening with the alien to assist the alien and counsel the alien on avoiding receiving a charging document,” he said. The officer’s supervisors ordered the officer to release the illegal – an order the officer refused.

According to a “Notice of Proposed Suspension,” dated July 19, the officer “failed to follow these supervisory instructions, when you arrested a non-targeted alien who did not appear to meet any of the ICE priorities.” A memorandum from Assistant Field Office Director David O’Neill, written the morning of the incident, reveals that the officers were told to release the subject even though he was in the country illegally. The officer “became agitated and began to raise his voice and stated that he would not do as instructed,” O’Neill wrote in his memo.

As a result of disobeying the order to release a known criminal, the officer faces a three-day suspension and could ultimately lose his job and pension if he arrests another illegal not on the Obama administration’s priority list. “They’re willing to take away their retirement, their job, their ability to support their families in favor of someone who is here illegally and violating our laws,” Crane told Fox News. “Right now (the Obama administration) is standing in the way of us enforcing the law by either taking a disciplinary action, threats of disciplinary action, or refusing to sign off on charging documents to put an illegal alien into immigration proceedings so a judge can sort it out.”

An ICE spokesman did not return multiple calls seeking comment. Ironically, the illegal alien in this particular incident was given better treatment than an American citizen would have been in similar circumstances. A spokesman for the Newark Police Dept. told Fox News that if an American had been stopped on the same charges – they would have been put in jail. The spokesman said officers would have let the judge sort out the details. Crane said that’s the way it used to be – until President Obama loosened restrictions on illegal immigrants. “Our hands are tied much more than your average police officer,” Crane said. “Normally an officer would have made an arrest like this, processed him, put the paper work in front of the supervisor and they would have signed off on it.”

At the heart of the issue are significant changes announced in June by the Dept. of Homeland Security. The new rules outlined how younger illegal immigrants could stay in the country and gain work permits through the use of “prosecutorial discretion.” Crane said agents in the field disputed the idea of prosecutorial discretion. “This whole prosecutorial discretion thing is a big lie,” he said. “The administration is trying to say it gives us more flexibility to release people. It’s garbage. These are orders – very clear orders that you will release people.”

The policy allows for discretion involving individuals who have not been convicted of a “felony offense, a significant misdemeanor offense, multiple misdemeanor offenses, or otherwise poses a threat to national security or public safety; and is not above the age of thirty.” The illegal immigrant in this case had 10 traffic violations and is 35-years-old.

And it’s not the first time that ICE agents have found themselves frustrated by Obama’s new policy. Last month an illegal immigrant injured an officer during an attempted escape in El Paso. Assaulting a federal officer is considered a federal crime. However, because the suspect was not a priority target, he was released without any criminal or immigration charges. “We can’t do anything anymore under these new guidelines,” he added. “ As a result, he said, an 18-year law enforcement veteran has to pay the price — and somewhere in the nation, a 35-year-old illegal immigrant is driving on a roadway without a license. “If a law enforcement officer can’t perform routine enforcement functions, what do we have a law enforcement agency for,” Crane wondered.

This is yet another prima facie episode of Obama placing politics and his re-election above the law and above the interests of this country. 

Random Venting

Will Holder Prosecute or even investigate Jon Corzine? Fat Chance of that. With Holder and the Obama Administration going after Conservatives States,..first suing States who are trying to fix the illegal alien issue and secondly suing the states who are trying to solve voter fraud, Holder has no time to investigate or prosecute crimes such as Corzine stealing money from investors or Black militants intimidating voters. I find it funny that the Black Militants only chose locations where elderly white people voted as opposed to trying to intimidate voters in states like Texas, or Arizona or Montana, or Wyoming,....or Alabama, etc.  

Ted Cruz and the Tea Party Victorious in Texas Republican Senate Run Off Election. The Tea Party, yet again, showed it's grass roots strength by Ted Cruz winning the run off election against David Dewhurst an entrenched old school Republican in the Republican stronghold of Texas. So all those Liberal and Rhino declarations that the Tea Party is dead are vastly over stated and in fact, totally wrong. And what is telling is that Cruz won by such a large margin,.....56 % to 44%, even though he was outspent $24 million to $9 million.  

More Legacy Media Bias demonstrated in the news reports about Anne Romney's and Michelle Obama's clothing. First we had the Legacy Media, also known as the Mainstream Media or Obama's fifth Column, beating up Anne Romney because she was wearing a $900 blouse,...."Oh, she is so out of touch with middle class America by wearing and flaunting that expensive item of clothing,...shame on her."........ Contrast that with the Media reporting on Michelle Obama wearing a $8,600 shirt/vest,...."Oh, Michelle sets a high bar for style,.....oh, her arms are so toned,.....". Come on, even you Liberals have to see that the media is so slanted towards Democrats, that they may as well get paid by the DNC.    Well, ......maybe they are.  

Facebook Poll on Welfare Do you think welfare recipients should be drug tested?
Yes: 168,439 (94%)
No: 7,575 ( 4%)
Don't Know: 2,724 (2%)

Obama's Amnesty Program

It looks to be that Obama is trying to recruit more voters prior to November,......he must be worried.

Top Immigration Officials Describe Border Chaos Resulting From Admin's Amnesty Policy Senator Sessions (R-AL) hosted a press conference today with top officials from two unions that represent U.S. immigration law enforcement agencies.

 ICE agent Chris Crane is President of the National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council, the union representing America's more than 7,000 ICE agents and personnel.

Border Patrol agent George McCubbin, III is President of the National Border Patrol Council, the union representing America's more than 17,000 border agents and personnel.

From Senator Sessions' remarks: "The Administration claims it has diligently enforced immigration law and that the border is 'more secure than ever.' But those on the front lines know this to be untrue. They see the violence, chaos and lawlessness. They have lost confidence in the leadership of their agencies...As you will hear today, this administration has engaged in a sustained, relentless effort to undermine America's immigration laws. They have handcuffed and muffled those charged with protecting the public safety and the integrity of our borders. Such action has not only weakened our security but our democracy...All Americans, immigrant and native born, will have a better future if our nation remains unique in the world for the special reverence it places in the rule of law and fairness in our immigration system."

Watch the below video to see what both Law Enforcement Union officials have to say about President Obama's failure to uphold his Constitutional duties and responsibilities.