Posted on 10/10/2010 10:33:57 AM PDT by AuntB
In recent months, labor organizations representing federal immigration agents have been among the most outspoken challengers of Obama’s enforcement campaign.
In June, the American Federation of Government Employees’ National Council 118, which represents Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, issued a no-confidence vote for ICE Director John Morton, claiming he is promoting amnesty instead of enforcement because most ICE officers are unable to make immigration-related arrests on the streets, leading to “amnesty by policy.”
The National Border Patrol Council adopted a similar no-confidence resolution targeting Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar.
Brandon Judd, union vice president and president of Local 2544 in Tucson, said this week that the Obama administration has purposefully understaffed remote areas and attempted to limit the number of undocumented immigrants captured in Arizona so that it can assert that illegal immigration is dropping because of improved enforcement.
“The border is just as wide open in some areas as it’s ever been,” Judd said. “Yes, I do believe the administration wants as few arrests as they possibly can. If they can have fewer arrests, then they can say fewer people are crossing the border. This administration is desperate to say the border is secure.”
In a joint phone interview Friday, Morton and Aguilar bristled at claims that their enforcement campaigns are ineffective or designed to fail.
“I just don’t know where that sentiment is coming from because it is demonstrably not true,” Morton said. “We are not pro-amnesty. As to the charge of being anti-enforcement, you don’t have to look any further than the results themselves at ICE and Customs and Border Protection.”
Aguilar, former chief of the Tucson Sector, said the truth is that a staunch enforcement effort, along with an economic downturn, has stymied the flow of unlawful entrants. Even with agents covering more ground and using better equipment, he said, arrests on the border have dropped 70 percent in nine years and 30 percent since the previous administration.
“Right now, I would challenge anybody to fly over the border and find a place where there are no agents,” Aguilar said. “They are in rural and remote areas where they had never been before.”
Enforcement debate
As Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and others bolstered enforcement, called in troops, recited enforcement statistics and declared the border “more secure than ever,” an administration message seemed to gain traction.
Simultaneously, union leaders and other amnesty foes appeared to shift their most vocal complaints from border protection to workplace enforcement.
T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council of about 17,500 agents, said he’s still not satisfied with enforcement along the line with Mexico. However, he said, no amount of agents or troops will be enough to secure the border unless undocumented immigrants also are rounded up en masse within the U.S.
“We have consistently taken the position that interior enforcement is the key to stopping illegal immigration,” Bonner said, arguing that raids and roundups should be conducted nationwide.
The National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers, a group of retired agents, recently issued a news release declaring that interior enforcement is “woefully lacking” and getting worse, “strangling our democracy and threatening our national security.”
G. Alan Ferguson, executive assistant, said enhanced border protection won’t solve America’s immigration problem unless illegal immigrants now on U.S. soil are rooted out.
Homeland Security this week sought to refute such allegations with data, just as it did the complaints about border security.
Federal reports for fiscal 2010 show ICE removed a record 392,000 non-citizens from the United States, half of those convicted criminals. The deportation of felons was up 70 percent over Bush’s final year in office.
Homeland Security also says that it is curbing the demand for undocumented employees. Since January 2009, ICE has audited 3,200 employers suspected of hiring undocumented immigrants, imposing $50 million in sanctions and punishing 225 companies.
“This administration has focused on enforcing our immigration laws in a smart, effective manner that prioritizes public safety and national security and holds employers accountable who knowingly break the law,” Napolitano said.
The Federation for American Immigration Reform responded with a news release accusing the administration of misleading the public with partial truths. “The goal is to convince the American people that immigration enforcement is being dealt with so that the administration can move on to its real objective: massive amnesty,” said Dan Stein, FAIR’s president.
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Finally, a union worth it’s salt.
“Finally, a union worth it’s salt.”
Yes, and naturally, they’re the ones who get no favors from Obama.
Obviously, not all unions are created equal. Good to see one whose members are not for sale.
Perhaps, while this Administration has no dedication to protecting this Nation against enemies, foreign or domestic; joining the Border Patrol would be a better choice for patriotic young men and women than enlisting in the Military.
Let us hope that LEO's nationwide will look at their copy of the Constitution, look in the mirror, and follow the Border Patrol, and publicly declare no confidence in Zer0 and the Justice department.
This is one reason why impeachment proceedings should have begun already!
The only people with confidence in the Imam are the enemies within. You know their names and their classes.
But wait! Didn’t I see an article here the other day saying how deportations are up x percent under Obama? I wasn’t buying it then and I still don’t buy it.
Border is never going to be secured. Big money interests on both the Left (La Raza etc.) and the Right (Big Business) have spoken. It is hard enough to stand up to one of those groups, but both?
Thanks for posting this. It restores my hope a little.
ICE complained about the politically-motivated actions of their superiors and Morton’s desire to offer amnesty to illegal aliens
Low morale plagues Homeland Security Department, say staff members
By Jim Kouri Saturday, October 9, 2010
http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/28554
“DHS scores on the Partnership for Public Service’s 2010 rankings of Best Places to Work in the Federal Government improved from prior years, yet DHS was ranked 28 out of 32 agencies on scores for employee satisfaction and commitment.”
This high-risk area included challenges in management areas, including acquisition, information technology, financial, and human capital management; the impact of those challenges on mission implementation; and management integration.In a 2003 report to the U.S. Congress, the Government Accountability Office has designated implementing and transforming the Department of Homeland Securityas high risk because DHS had to transform 22 agencies—several with significant management challenges—into one department, and failure to effectively address its mission and management risks could have serious consequences for national and economic security.
For example, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security John Morton—the chief of the Immigration & Customs Enforcement directorate—was the recipient of a “vote of no confidence” from the union representing his ICE agents and officers. In a letter, the members of ICE complained about the politically-motivated actions of their superiors and Morton’s desire to offer amnesty to illegal aliens.
GAO has reported that DHS’s transformation is a significant effort that will take years to achieve. The GAO analysts testimony discussed DHS’s progress and actions remaining in implementing its management functions; integrating those functions and strengthening performance measurement; and addressing GAO’s high-risk designation. The analysts latest testimony before Congress is based on GAO’s prior reports on DHS transformation and management issues and updated information on these issues obtained from December 2009 through September 2010.
DHS has made progress in implementing its management functions, but additional actions are needed to strengthen DHS’s efforts in these areas:
* DHS has revised its acquisition management oversight policies, and its senior-level Acquisition Review Board reviewed 24 major acquisition programs in fiscal years 2008 and 2009. However, more than 40 major programs had not been reviewed, and DHS does not yet have accurate cost estimates for most of its major programs.
* DHS has undertaken efforts to establish information technology management controls and capabilities, but its progress has been uneven and majorinformation technology programs, such as the SBInet virtual fence, have not met capability, benefit, cost, and schedule expectations.
* DHS has developed corrective action plans to address its financial managementweaknesses. However, DHS has been unable to obtain an unqualified audit opinion on its financial statements, and for fiscal year 2009, the independent auditor identified six material weaknesses in DHS’s internal controls. Further, DHS has not yet implemented a consolidated department wide financial management system.
* DHS has issued plans for strategic human capital management and employee development. Further, its scores on the Partnership for Public Service’s 2010 rankings of Best Places to Work in the Federal Government improved from prior years, yet DHS was ranked 28 out of 32 agencies on scores for employee satisfaction and commitment.
DHS has also taken action to integrate its management functions by, for example, establishing common policies within management functions. The Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 required DHS to develop a strategy for management integration.
In a 2005 report GAO recommended that a management integration strategy contain priorities and goals. DHS developed an initial plan in February 2010 that identified seven initiatives for achieving management integration. While a step in the right direction, among other things, the plan lacked details on how the initiatives contributed to department wide management integration.
DHS is working to enhance its management integration plan, which GAO will review as part of the 2011 high-risk update. DHS also has not yet developed performance measures to fully assess its progress in integrating management functions. Since GAO first designated DHS’s transformation as high risk, DHS has made progress in transforming into a fully functioning department.
However, it has not yet fully addressed its transformation, management, and mission challenges, such as implementing effective management policies and deploying capabilities to secure the border and other sectors. In 2009 GAO reported that DHS had developed a strategy for managing its high-risk areas and corrective action plans to address its management challenges.
While these documents identified some root causes and corrective actions, GAO reported that they could be improved by DHS identifying resources needed for implementing corrective actions and measures for assessing progress. This testimony contains no new recommendations. GAO has made over 100 recommendations to DHS since 2003 to strengthen its management and integration efforts. DHS has implemented many of these recommendations and is in the process of implementing others.
You did see that. What you didn't see was the revolving door whereby criminal illegals and illegals of all sorts are coming right back again - as if they've never been deported. Obviously they're scared stiff they'll get caught again - NOT!!!!
I appreciate your pings even if I don’t comment much on them. What’s there for me to say except a loud long drawn out scream of outrage?
That and your vote means much.
huh..tonight the article is no longer available - it must have been pulled.
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