The White House and the Department of Homeland Security were unaware of Immigration Customs and Enforcement’s decision to release detainees until the agency announced it, administration officials said Wednesday.
“This was a decision made by a career officials at ICE without any input from the White House, as a result of fiscal uncertainty over the continuing resolution, as well as possible sequestration,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said Wednesday.
Personnel at Department of Homeland Security headquarters in Washington were also unaware of the decision until the announcement was made, a department official told POLITICO.
ICE announced Tuesday that it has released several hundred undocumented immigrants in recent weeks as funding cuts loom. The detainees will instead be monitored in less expensive ways, the agency said.
Carney described those released as “low-risk, non-criminal detainees,” but several Republican members of Congress have spoken out against the releases.
“It’s very hard for me to believe that they can’t find cuts elsewhere in their agency,” House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) told CBS News on Tuesday. “I frankly think this is outrageous…I can’t believe that they can’t find the kind of savings they need out of that department short of letting criminals go free.”
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, on Wednesday asked ICE for details of the agency’s decision. “This decision reflects the lack of resource prioritization,” he wrote to ICE Director John Morton, “and is indicative of the Department [of Homeland Security]’s weak stance on national security.”
Why are they detaining non-criminals?
Don’t blame us if one of those non-criminals commits a crime!
Funds should not have dried up until Friday. This actually shows that this administration is still in campaign mode and likely has ordered every agency to take cuts. If every agency that I have knowledge of takes the stated cuts, we will wipe out 1 trillion of the debt this year alone. “Fat chance”!
There is one thing that you can be sure of with the WH and the administration and that is that they LIE all of the time.
Must be a bus with high clearance.
A letter being sent by our Border Patrol agents who are the ones that will suffer, consequently border security will suffer (something I think Nappy Jan and Obama actually want):
“Dear (Congressman) (Senator)
My name is ____________ and I have worked as a Border Patrol agent for the past _____ years. I live in ____ and I vote. I am writing to you to ask for your help.
Due to the very real possibility of sequestration, U.S. Customs and Border Ptrotection (CBP) has begun taking steps to deal with the administration of furloughs. Border Patrol agents would be mandated to have a furlough day each pay period resulting in a cumulative loss of 5,000 Border Patrol agents in the field from the date of implementation. This is a serious security risk to our nation and everything that Congress can do to avoid furloughs should be done.
CBP has used this crisis as an opportunity to slash the Administratively Uncontrollable Overtime (AUO) that Border Patrol agents receive. This reduction in AUO coupled with furloughs mean Border POatrol agents face an approximate 40% loss in pay. No agent can sustain these kinds of cuts.
To make matters worse it appears as if Border Patrol agents are being asked to bear the brunts of the cuts at CBP. The cuts at CBP total $285 million, of which $245 million is coming directly from Border Patrol agents. This situation is blatantly unfair.
As your constituent I ask that you work to avoid a sequestration, but failing that plese ensure that any cuts at CBP are fair and not punitive as they currently are.
Sincerely”
The CBP hiarcy are directing almost all cuts at the actual agents themselves, while the head of CBP has announced an increase in grade, and pay, to the heads of the CBP. If we can afford to increase the pay and grade of those in management, seems that we can leave the pay of the agents in the field alone.
This is the kind of pressure being put on the most important members of our national security, Border Patrol agents. All the while Nappy Jan tells us that the border is more secure than ever.
But they have 2 billion rounds of Ammo. Might as well give it to the illegals along with the 7k guns they bought. Time to get Obama’s Civil War -ON!