Government tells agents to ID which immigrants not to deport
The Obama administration is ordering immigration agents to ask immigrants they encounter living in the country illegally whether they might qualify under President Barack Obama’s plans to avoid deporting them.
Internal training materials obtained by The Associated Press also show that agents are being told to review government files to identify any jailed immigrants they might be able to release under the program.
“I’ve never seen such an ideological shift in terms of government actors in how they’re suppose to conduct their duties,” said border security expert Victor Manjarrez. “It is a little disturbing because it is different.”
The directives from the Homeland Security Department mark an unusual change for U.S. immigration enforcement. They place the obligation on the government for identifying immigrants who might qualify for lenient treatment.
It’s like the Internal Revenue Service calling taxpayers to recommend that they should have used certain exemptions or deductions.
When a Border Patrol agent stops an immigrant, the first question asked is, “Where are you from?”
The second is,” Are you entitled to enter or remain in the United States?”
If the immigrant can’t provide a passport or papers, they are out of status, and not entitled to enter the U.S. But under President Obama’s direction, now it’s the agent’s job to find out if they qualify to stay in the country.
“It’s a pretty big departure from what the courts have said in the past,” Manjarrez said. Manjarrez is the current associate director for the National Center for Border Security and Immigration at UTEP. He’s a former Border Patrol chief and has worked for the Department of Homeland Security for more than 20 years.
He’s skeptical of the move, which some say, will clear the clutter of deporting everyone, and allow agencies to filter and deport criminals first, and faster.
“I can see conceptually where they would make that stretch, where they would say that would bring their true bad guys up to the front,” Manjarrez said. “But what happens if you don’t have the resources to look for those true bad guys, because you’re so flooded with the huge number of people that may apply for this relief?”
Agents will now have a checklist, determining whether the immigrant is a parent of U.S. citizen, or a person illegally brought into the country as a child. These immigrants are protected under Obama’s order. Manjarrez says this opens the door for fraud, especially if that checklist is every made public.
“It’s got to be demoralizing,” Manjarrez said. “I’ve received several calls from folks that are still in the profession who said, this is really frustrating. And the term I heard often is we can’t do our job.”
