Shortly after President Obama announced his executive amnesty, a number of immigration officials emailed a congressional office expressing frustration and discontent at the administration’s actions.
That congressional office this week exclusively provided the angry emails from five immigration officials and one Justice Department official to Breitbart News on condition of anonymity.
“So if you can sneak in through the border, get past the Border Patrol, stay under the radar for a few years, have kids, you will be rewarded with protection from deportation under Obama’s policy,” wrote one supervisor with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). “WTF! This is not merely [prosecutorial discretion], this is a flagrant disregard for the rule of law and our sovereignty as a nation. Even if you come to the [port of entry] and claim credible fear, you will eventually be released from custody because you are not a priority. disgusting!”
That supervisor went on to characterize the actions as “a massive abuse and misuse of the deferred action mechanism.”
Another officer in ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations division highlighted the kinds of offenses that will not be considered immigration offenses under the orders.
“So felony ID theft, document fraud, etc convictions…now, and in the future carry no immigration consequence if simply alleged it was due to their illegal status/furtherance of their illegal presence,” the official wrote. “Of great comfort to victims of ID theft and such, I’m sure!”
Obama announced his plans to unilaterally provide legal status and work permits to millions of undocumented immigrants and place further restrictions on enforcement of immigration law on November 20. The emails the congressional office shared with Breitbart News followed shortly thereafter.
An unnamed career prosecutor at the Justice Department emailed the office calling the president “Emperor Obama.”
“Look at what he does in the way of giving internal guidance to his enforcement and benefits folks,” the prosecutor emailed. “That’s where the so-called discretion is being exercised. And it’s not ‘felons not families.’ It’s ‘let’s get as many people as possible because we know the toothpaste can’t be out back in the tube.’ Their definition of ‘felon’ differs from everyone else’s.”
A second ICE supervisor called the Obama administration’s relaxation of immigration enforcement a “bastardized version” of prosecutorial discretion.
“I guess interpretation and implementation of the EO will be fluid and constantly changing to fit the agenda and to benefit the most,” the supervisor lamented.
Another ICE official described the lack of follow up to those cases where an undocumented immigrant claims to be eligible for relief under Obama’s orders.
“But even though the two deferred action categories don’t take effect til January 5, we are supposed to be identifying and promptly releasing anyone who appears to qualify, and if they claim to to eligible, it’s not our job to make any kind of initial investigation or ask for anything…just take them at their word and release so they can apply in Jan and let [Citizenship and Immigration Services] figure it out,” the official wrote.
And yet another ICE official detailed problems he saw with the new guidance issued as part of the executive orders, noting that those “noncriminal” undocumented immigrants who are arrested for minor offenses such as traffic stops and entered the country before January 1, 2014 must be released as a “non priority.”
“They are released out the door with nothing, and get nothing. Just returned to illegal status. Though I’m sure the attorneys will quickly figure out to apply for a work permit as an asylum applicant based on the unfinished RF claim,” the official added.
Wednesday House Republicans approved a Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill that aims to defund the administration’s executive amnesty.
The effort to fund DHS without funding amnesty faces an uphill slog in the Senate, and the White House has already threatened to veto the funding bill if it contains the provisions restricting his executive actions on immigration.
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