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Union Representing Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents Unanimously Approves a “vote of no confidence” in ICE Leadership

August 10, 2010 By Jeff 2 Comments

The union representing rank and file Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents has unanimously approved a “Vote of No Confidence” in the agency’s leadership. The statement released on June 25, 2010 accuse ICE Director  John Morton, and Phyllis Coven, assistant director for the agency’s office of detention policy and planning of abandoning its core mission of protecting the public to support a political agenda favoring amnesty.

From the Washington Times:

The National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 7,000 ICE agents and employees, voted 259-0 for a resolution saying there was “growing dissatisfaction and concern” over the leadership of Assistant Secretary John Morton, who heads ICE, and Phyllis Coven, assistant director for the agency’s office of detention policy and planning.

The resolution said ICE leadership had “abandoned the agency’s core mission of enforcing U.S. immigration laws and providing for public safety,” instead directing its attention “to campaigning for programs and policies related to amnesty and the creation of a special detention system for foreign nationals that exceeds the care and services provided to most U.S. citizens similarly incarcerated.

“It is the desire of our union … to publicly separate ourselves from the actions of Director Morton and Assistant Director Coven and publicly state that ICE officers and employees do not support Morton or Coven or their misguided and reckless initiatives, which could ultimately put many in America at risk,” the union said.

In a strongly worded statement, the union and its affiliated local councils said the integrity of the agency “as well as the public safety” would be “better provided for in the absence of Director Morton and Assistant Director Coven.”

Interestingly Mr. Morton told the Washington Post in an interview a few weeks ago that calls for his resignation were ‘just part of the territory,’:

“You develop a thick skin in a job like this,” said Morton, who admits to reading many of the brickbats that come his way but says they don’t consume him. “I’d imagine that for some other senior leaders in government, the day when someone calls for their resignation would be the day they’d remember throughout their career. That’s just part of the territory here.”

That may be true Mr. Morton, but if you’ve lost the confidence of the men and women who work you I don’t see how you do your job effectively.

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Stuck on Stupid: Dem County Supervisor Says Arizona’s Not a Border State

June 26, 2010 By Jeff

I’m almost at a loss for words here. I’ve heard all sorts of dumb things come out of the mouths of politicians, but Peggy West, a Democrat member of the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors is in a league of her own… During a debate on a measure that would call for the county to boycott doing business with companies in Arizona, Ms. West had this to say:

Huh??? She’s didn’t just say  “If this was Texas, which is a state that is directly on the border with Mexico, and they were calling for a measure like this saying that they had a major issue with undocumented people flooding their borders, I would have to look twice at this.  But this is a state that is a ways removed from the border”, did she?

Yup, she did… Idiot!

One of her fellow Supervisors, Joe Rice, quickly corrected her and she did make a rather valiant attempt at damage control:

While speaking at the meeting, West did go on to talk about National Guard troops on the border in Arizona.  West points to that as she tells us that she simply misspoke.

“I did get a passing grade in Geography in high school and in college and I do obviously know that Arizona is on the border,” West said in an interview after today’s meeting.

West claims that the point she was trying to make is that because Texas has a much larger border with Mexico, she might feel differently about such a law in that state.  “Had Texas come out with the legislation, having the largest border, I think that I would be more receptive to the fact that there was a problem.  But having it be Arizona, having it be the second largest boarder and knowing there are troops on the border in Arizona, it didn’t seem to me that this legislation was particularly necessary at this moment in time,” West said.

Sorry, but I’m not buying that she misspoke… If you watch the video it seems pretty clear she said what she intended to say.

Regardless, Ms. West needs to spend some time in Arizona… Visit Pima County where drug smugglers are reportedly setting up permanent observation posts to monitor the movements of law enforcement agents along the border. Or visit Nogales where Drug smugglers are threatening the lives police officers.

It’s easy for people like Ms. West to criticize Arizona’s new immigration law… She doesn’t live there and doesn’t have to deal with daily consequences of the Federal Government’s failure at one its most basic responsibilities — to protect it’s citizen from foreign threats.  Mexico’s violent drug war is spilling across Arizona’s border and endangering the lives of American citizens… If the Federal Government won’t fulfill its most basic obligation then the Sate of Arizona has to fill void.

Edit: I linked to this below, but I should mention that the National Guard troops Ms. West refers to are not there to help enforce immigration laws, their mission is to help stem the flow of guns and drugs across the border. That’s all well and good, but it’s only half the job… it’s the lack of effective immigration enforcement that’s helped to create the lawless environment along the border.

If we’re going send National Guard troops to the border to interdict the flow of guns and drugs they should also be authorized to help enforce immigration laws while there… The two things go hand in hand.

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Jon Kyl: President Obama Told Me Government Won’t Secure Border Until Congress Agrees to Amnesty

June 21, 2010 By Jeff Leave a Comment

I wish I could say I’m shocked or even surprised by the revelation made by Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) at a town hall meeting in Arizona last Friday, but I’m not… The Federal Government has been turning a blind eye to the problems along our southern border for years.

George W. Bush may not have been as blunt about it, but in reality President Obama is simply picking up right where Bush left off.

The whole clip is worth watching, but the money bit comes at around the 3:20 mark:

H/T: ColdWarrior at Red State

Update (Tuesday, June 22, 2010): I should note the White House is denying that Pres. Obama ever told Sen. Kyl that, Sen Kyl is of course standing by his remarks:

This morning, a White House spokesman told ABC News that Kyl is lying.  “The President didn’t say that and Senator Kyl knows it,” communications director Dan Pfeiffer told ABC.  “There are more resources dedicated toward border security today than ever before, but, as the President has made clear, truly securing the border will require a comprehensive solution to our broken immigration system.”

Now, in an interview with KVOI radio in Arizona, Kyl says his account of the Oval Office conversation is accurate.  “What I said occurred did occur,” Kyl said.

“One way you can verify the validity of what I said is that that’s exactly their position,” Kyl continued.  “Some spokesman down at the White House said no, that isn’t what happened at all, and then proceeded to say we need comprehensive immigration reform to secure the border.  That is their position, and all I was doing was explaining why, from a conversation with the president, why it appears that that’s their position.”

After Kyl’s radio interview, a Kyl spokesman sent a note emphasizing the senator’s point. “There were two people in that meeting and [spokesman] Dan Pfeiffer was not one of them,” spokesman Andrew Wilder said.  “The White House spokesman’s pushback that you must have comprehensive immigration reform to secure the border only confirms Kyl’s account.”

Oh brother, what we have here is good old fashioned game of he said he said… There’s no way to verify who’s telling the truth here. I’m more inclined to believe Sen. Kyl for the simple reason actions speak louder then words and as I wrote yesterday, the Federal Government has been turning a blind eye to the problems along our southern border for years. Barack Obama isn’t doing anything differently here than George W. Bush did… They both pushed for comprehensive immigration reform paying lip service to improving border security. It’s just more of the same old same old.

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Idiot: Janet Napolitano Doesn’t Know The Law Her Agency is Supposed to Enforce

April 21, 2009 By Jeff 3 Comments

Dept. of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is without a doubt the biggest idiot in Washington. Her remarks on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday demonstrates she has no clue about the laws her agency is supposed to enforce:

KING: A lot of Democrats in Congress want to you investigate [Joe Arpaio]. They think he is over the line. He says he is just enforcing the law and the problem is the federal government.

NAPOLITANO: Well, you know, Sheriff Joe, he is being very political in that statement, because he knows that there aren’t enough law enforcement officers, courtrooms or jail cells in the world to do what he is saying.

What we have to do is target the real evil-doers in this business, the employers who consistently hire illegal labor, the human traffickers who are exploiting human misery.

And yes, when we find illegal workers, yes, appropriate action, some of which is criminal, most of that is civil, because crossing the border is not a crime per se. It is civil. But anyway, going after those as well.

Excuse me??? With all due respect madam secretary you might want to review 8 USC Sec. 1325:

(a) Improper time or place; avoidance of examination or inspection;
misrepresentation and concealment of facts
Any alien who (1) enters or attempts to enter the United States
at any time or place other than as designated by immigration
officers, or (2) eludes examination or inspection by immigration
officers, or (3) attempts to enter or obtains entry to the United
States by a willfully false or misleading representation or the
willful concealment of a material fact, shall, for the first
commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18 or
imprisoned not more than 6 months, or both, and, for a subsequent
commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18, or
imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both.
(b) Improper time or place; civil penalties
Any alien who is apprehended while entering (or attempting to
enter) the United States at a time or place other than as
designated by immigration officers shall be subject to a civil
penalty of -
(1) at least $50 and not more than $250 for each such entry (or
attempted entry); or
(2) twice the amount specified in paragraph (1) in the case of
an alien who has been previously subject to a civil penalty under
this subsection.
Civil penalties under this subsection are in addition to, and not
in lieu of, any criminal or other civil penalties that may be
imposed.
(c) Marriage fraud
Any individual who knowingly enters into a marriage for the
purpose of evading any provision of the immigration laws shall be
imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or fined not more than
$250,000, or both.
(d) Immigration-related entrepreneurship fraud
Any individual who knowingly establishes a commercial enterprise
for the purpose of evading any provision of the immigration laws
shall be imprisoned for not more than 5 years, fined in accordance
with title 18, or both.

Call me crazy but shouldn’t the Secretary of Homeland Security know that illegal immigration is a crime?

Unfortunately, I suspect Sec. Napolitano knows all to well what the law is, and like administration she serves, has chosen not to actively enforce it.

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