Border Security? Agents Ordered to Give Illegal Immigrants a Pass

By 

Jay Sekulow

|
July 30, 2012

2 min read

Immigration

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There's a troubling new development regarding U.S. efforts to protect our borders. The leadership of unions representing thousands of immigration agents now contend that the Obama Administration - specifically the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) - is implementing a new policy that forces officials to ignore the law and allow illegal immigrants to stay in this country with no verifiable documentation.

The concern is clear: the Obama Administration's lax enforcement of our immigration policy now becomes even worse - with border agents claiming they are under threat of losing their jobs if they don't give illegal immigrants a pass.

As Chris Crane, president of the National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council, put it: "Our orders are: If an alien says they went to high school, then let them go. If they say they have a GED, then let them go. Officers have been told that there is no burden for the alien to prove anything. Even with the greatly relaxed policies, the alien is not required to prove that they meet any of the new criteria."

This is absurd. As I told Megyn Kelly on FOX News today, this not only out of step with the law, it now puts prosecutorial discretion in the hands of illegal immigrants.

This latest development is properly raising concerns on Capitol Hill. “The lawlessness must end,” Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama) said. "They’ve 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 its special reverence for the rule of law and fairness in our immigration system."

All of this comes as a new study is released - a study that suggests a pattern by the Obama administration of looking the other way on immigration enforcement. The Federation for American Immigration Reform catalogued dozens of statements and policy decisions since 2009. The group claims the "unilateral actions" all bend toward the same goal  -- "to render enforcement of U.S. immigration laws ineffective."

Jay Sekulow