Artesia (NM) mayor: 95 percent of families of illegals being released

Washington Times ^ | November 18, 2014 | Stephen Dinan

[Zakeet]

Almost all of the illegal immigrant families traveling from Central America to the U.S. are being released from the special facility meant to hold them in New Mexico, according to the mayor of the town where the special facility is located.

Mayor Phillip S. Burch told KSVP radio in Artesia, New Mexico, last week that the releases defy Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson’s own pledge in July to make sure those who ended up at the facility were quickly deported from the U.S.

Instead, of 82 illegal immigrants released in one week earlier this month, 77 were let go into the U.S., and just five were deported, Mr. Burch said, citing numbers from his weekly briefing he has with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials who run the facility.

“That seems like the way the numbers have gone over the past 6 weeks,” the mayor said in the radio interview. “The past six weeks there’s a 95 percent release rate.”

[Snip]

ICE officials did not provide a comment for this story.

[Zakeet]

So if Congress balks, and if they threaten to fight my executive order, and if the voters say no ... then why not just do it!

[MeshugeMikey]

Im thinking this amounts to ARROGANCE GATE!!!

<>

[Defiant]

Among the many laws that need to be passed to undo the Obamanation, one would be to allow local authorities to detain suspected illegal aliens and hold them until they are picked up by federal officers; and that federal officers are to hold them in custody until they are removed from the country. Any officer found releasing an illegal alien, and any superior ordering the release, up to and including the head of the executive branch, shall be guilty of a felony offense, theft of citizenship and services, and shall be punished with mandatory jail time.

[no-s]

up to and including the head of the executive branch, shall be guilty of a felony offense

The head of the executive branch is pretty much immune to that. However we can do away with the premise that executive privilege gives other gov't employees a free pass...

[Defiant]

The President is certainly capable of committing crimes while in office. Prosecuting is sometimes problematic, but he can’t commit murder and if you make it a crime to let an illegal alien go free, he could be charged with that. Whether it would be prosecuted before or after the term of office is over is something that can be discussed (the correct answer is yes).

[CedarDave]

Later in the story:

ICE officials on Tuesday announced plans to shutter the Artesia facility, which is one of three that currently houses illegal immigrant families. They are planning a new facility in Dilley, Texas, that could eventually house up to 2,400 parents and children.

The ABQ Journal reports:

About 450 detainees, many of whom arrived at the U.S. border from Central America over the summer, are currently housed at a temporary holding area awaiting deportation or asylum at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Artesia, according to ICE.

The federal immigration agency is expanding its detention capacity for adults with children at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley and will move most of the detainees there. The law enforcement training center in Artesia, commonly known as FLETC, will return to normal operations next month.
Detention center in Artesia to close

[CedarDave]

NM list PING!

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[LegendHasIt]

Thanks for the ping Dave.