Free Republic

Nearly 9-in-10 illegal aliens who have been recently released into the interior of the United States while they await their asylum hearings are not showing up to their court dates, according to a federal pilot program. For almost half a year, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has ramped up its catch and release of border crossers and illegal aliens, specifically those arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border with children. Since December 21, 2018, DHS has released at least 190,500 border crossers and illegal aliens into the interior of the United States. Acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan told Congress this month...

by John HillStand With ArizonaWebsite | Facebook | Twitter Releasing illegal alien criminals - it's not just for Arizona anymore... In a political hissy fit, the Obama administration canceled White House tours and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released thousands of detainees ahead of the implementation of sequestration, all in attempt to make the public “feel” the effects of the forced spending cuts. But effort has largely backfired on Obama from a public relations standpoint, with children being denied access to “the people’s house” and the American public outraged at the potential harm from the release of illegal immigrant...

The head of the nation’s immigration enforcement agency said Tuesday that the decision to release over two thousand detained illegal immigrants was done for budgetary reasons alone and independent of political pressure, pushing back against critics who claim the Obama administration publicized the release of criminals to highlight the consequences of budget sequestration. “There are no mass releases of dangerous criminals underway or any plan for the future, just efforts to live within our budget,” Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton said in testimony before the House Judiciary Committee.....

by John HillStand With Arizona Today's House Judiciary Committee hearing showed exactly why we would love to see S.C. Rep. Trey Gowdy replace the disgraceful Lindsey Graham in the U.S. Senate next year.Tuesday afternoon, Rep. Gowdy (R), the Chairman of the Immigration Subcommittee, grilled ICE Director John Morton and DHS officials about the release of thousands of illegal immigrants from detention, including Level I violators (aggravated felons).The Obama administration has claimed that sequestration budget cuts forced them to release the detainees. But it has since been revealed that DHS and its division have spent hundreds of millions on other,...

House investigators learned Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials developed plans to release about 5,000 illegal immigrant detainees, although Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has denied responsibility for the decision. “An internal document obtained by the House Judiciary Committee shows that Administration officials at ICE prepared cold calculations to release thousands of criminal aliens onto the streets and did not demonstrate any consideration of the impact this decision would have on the safety of Americans,” committee chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., announced. The ICE document contains a table that proposes “reduc[ing] invoiced daily population by 1,000 weekly.” Between February 22...

WASHINGTON — The Homeland Security Department released from its jails more than 2,000 illegal immigrants facing deportation in recent weeks due to looming budget cuts and planned to release 3,000 more during March, the Associated Press has learned. The newly disclosed figures, cited in internal budget documents reviewed by the AP, are significantly higher than the “few hundred” illegal immigrants the Obama administration acknowledged this week had been released under the budget-savings process.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Associated Press has learned that the Homeland Security Department released more than 2,000 illegal immigrants facing deportation from immigration jails in recent weeks because of looming budget cuts. It also planned to release 3,000 more during March. The newly disclosed figures, cited in internal government budget documents reviewed by the AP, are significantly higher than what the Obama administration acknowledged this week as a "few hundred" illegal immigrants who were released under the budget-savings process.

Not only was Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano surprised when the people who work for her released hundreds of illegal immigrants this week, but she doesn’t know why those detainees were in jail in the first place, she told ABC News on Thursday. “That’s a good question. I’ve asked the same question myself,” she admitted. “So we’re looking into it.” Napolitano also said the release was poorly timed. “Do I wish that this all hadn’t been done all of a sudden and so that people weren’t surprised by it? Of course,” she said. But, Napolitano explained,

by John HillStand With ArizonaWebsite | Facebook | Twitter Americans are furious over the outrageous, lawless release of thousands of criminal illegal aliens from ICE detention - hundreds in Arizona alone - endangering families and communities from coast-to-coast. As the controversy swirled today, an angry Governor Jan Brewer (R-AZ) appeared on FoxNews' Neil Cavuto show to react to both the detainee releases, as well as to two days of finger-pointing and avoidance of responsibility on the part of the White House and DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano. “The American people are fed up. We have all of this outrageous activity going on.  And,...

The Associated Press has learned that the Homeland Security Department official in charge of the agency's immigration enforcement and removal operations has resigned after hundreds of illegal immigrants were released from jails because of government spending cuts.

TUCSON — The release of more than 300 people from immigration detention centers in Arizona — part of a mass release across the nation in anticipation of looming federal budget cuts — sparked outrage among activists on both sides of the political aisle. Anti-illegal immigration groups and others accused the Obama administration of playing politics, while an immigrant rights group said the incident showed the administration had detained people they shouldn’t have in the first place. John Hill, executive director of the Phoenix-based anti-illegal immigration group Stand With Arizona, said the Department of Homeland Security was using immigration security as...