Immigrants arrested as part of Homeland Security pilot program. Federal agents have begun arresting illegal immigrants in Connecticut as soon as they are ordered deported, rather than allowing them to remain free while they appeal.
The policy shift is a pilot program that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is considering expanding nationwide to reduce the number of illegal aliens who flee after being ordered out of the country.
“We’re trying to make the judges’ final decisions mean something more,” said Chris Bentley, a spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
But immigration attorneys say the policy will have the opposite effect, and will encourage immigrants to skip court hearings and take their chances on the run.
“It’s going to have a chilling effect,” said Hartford attorney Daniel Marcus, who recently had a client taken into custody.
Marcus and others complain that immigrants seeking political asylum or protection from torture will be detained alongside criminal aliens. (link)
The immigrants do not have to have committed any criminal offense to be arrested under this new program. [Al-Muhajabah’s Islamic Blogs]
I believe the point is that “illegally immigrating” is a criminal offense, although the notion of immigration being illegal strikes me as rather un-American.
I suppose our government will expect us to be happy that they are protecting the people of Connecticut from having their hotel rooms cleaned and gardens tended cheaply. I suspect they will be disappointed. Well, at least any terrorists trying to sneak into the country will be grateful that the KGB has found yet another way to make their job easier.
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