The Houston Chronicle
revealed this week that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is beginning
to dismiss cases against certain aliens in deportation proceedings. According to
The Chronicle, DHS is systematically reviewing thousands of pending immigration
cases and moving to dismiss those filed against suspected illegal immigrants who
have no serious criminal records. The local Houston office of Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE) is reviewing 2,500 cases and other ICE offices around
the country are expected to follow suit. (The Houston Chronicle, Aug. 24, 2010)
ICE spokesman Richard Rocha said the review is part of the agency's nationwide
strategy to prioritize the deportation of criminal aliens—meaning illegal aliens who
have committed additional criminal offenses and have been caught and prosecuted.
While Rocha refused to give additional details, The Chronicle extensively quotes
Raed Gonzales, an immigration attorney who was briefed on the effort by DHS’s
deputy chief counsel in Houston, for more details on the new policy. According to
Mr. Gonzales, DHS has confirmed that it's reviewing cases nationwide and it now
has five attorneys assigned full time to reviewing all active cases in Houston's
immigration court. DHS attorneys are conducting the reviews on a case-by-case basis,
but are following general guidelines that allow for the dismissal of cases for defendants
who have been in the country for two or more years and have no felony convictions.
In some instances, defendants can have one misdemeanor conviction, but it cannot
involve a DWI, family violence or sexual crime. (The Houston Chronicle, Aug. 24, 2010)
ICE has not yet officially confirmed or denied The Chronicle report, but it did release
a memo dated August 20, 2010 that outlines a new policy for dismissing certain
deportation cases. In the memo, ICE Director John Morton announces that in order to
reduce the backlog of pending immigration cases, ICE will begin dismissing deportation
cases of aliens who appear eligible to adjust their status to become a legal permanent
resident as the family member of a citizen or legal permanent resident. ICE estimates
that this policy shift will apply to 17,000 aliens in removal proceedings. The memo does
not state that criminal convictions will automatically bar the dismissal of a case, but
instead provides that certain adverse factors will weigh against dismissal, including
“criminal convictions, evidence of fraud or other criminal misconduct, and national security
and public safety considerations.”
This latest ICE memo comes on the heels of a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
(USCIS) memo leaked in early August that outlines how the Obama Administration intends
to use administrative means to reduce the likelihood that illegal aliens would be removed
from the U.S. (See FAIR’s Legislative Update, Aug. 2, 2010). With ICE’s latest move to
dismiss deportation cases, it appears that the Obama Administration is continuing to
expand the scope of its strategy.
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