Bill would freeze Obama's power to grant illegals amnesty

The Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee is crafting a bill that would temporarily freeze the Obama administration’s power to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants.

The measure is in response to a memo issued by the head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) last week that approved a broader breadth of discretion for agency officials when considering whether to deport someone through the Secure Communities program.

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), who is sponsoring the legislation, blasted the memo. He said that under the new guidelines ICE agents could defer the deportations of “millions of deportable illegal and criminal immigrants.”

“The Obama administration cannot continue to pick and choose which laws it will enforce,” said Smith in a statement. “It is outrageous that they have put illegal immigrants and their liberal political base ahead of the American people.”

Smith’s bill is expected to be introduced soon, according to a committee aide...[Full Article]

Obama slips DREAM Act amnesty past Congress
Columnist charges, 'This is outright lawlessness on part of the administration'

A new enforcement memo handed down by the director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement last week has some accusing the White House of running around Congress to implement the DREAM Act – and consequent amnesty for some illegal immigrants – by executive fiat.

The new memo, penned by ICE Director John Morton, directs ICE agents, attorneys and directors to exercise "prosecutorial discretion" – meaning less likelihood of deportation – for illegal aliens who have been students in the U.S., who have been in the country since childhood or who have served in the American military.

Critics have pointed out the new leniency standards parallel the provisions of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, or DREAM Act, which could not pass the Senate, despite several votes over the past decade, including three failed attempts at passage last year.

"This is outright lawlessness on the part of the administration," argued syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer on a discussion panel with Fox News' anchor Chris Wallace. "Whatever the politics of this, we do have a Constitution. And under it, the Legislature, the Congress enacts the laws and the executive executes them. It doesn't make them up.

"The DREAM Act was rejected by Congress," Krauthammer continued. "It is now being enacted by the executive, despite the express will of the Congress. That is lawless. It may not be an explicit executive order; it's an implicit one."...[Full Article]

ICE releases illegal alien suspects in Pennsylvania town…again (w/video)

Between Wednesday evening and Thursday morning, police in Beaver Meadows, PA, picked up four illegal aliens on traffic violations. Immigration and Customs Enforcement refused to issue detainers on any of the suspects, so all were released.

While this story has made many Beaver Meadows residents angry, it is not the first time ICE has refused to hold illegal aliens arrested in this town.

On May 9, state and local officials in Pennsylvania held a press conference to announce their displeasure with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), after the agency failed to issue a detainer on an illegal alien arrested the previous week by Beaver Meadows Police Chief Mike Morresi...[Full Article]

ICE agents warn Americans "to brace themselves for what's coming"

In the wake of the recent memo from the Obama administration which announced “prosecutorial discretion” in dealing with illegal aliens, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents across the country have been speaking out what many of them are calling a “backdoor amnesty.”

On Wednesday, ICE Union president Chris Crane told PRNewswire: “Any American concerned about immigration needs to brace themselves for what's coming. This is just one of many new ICE policies in queue aimed at stopping the enforcement of U.S. immigration laws in the United States. Unable to pass its immigration agenda through legislation, the Administration is now implementing it through agency policy.”

Crane continued: “ICE and the Administration have excluded our union and our agents from the entire process of developing policies, it was all kept secret from us, we found out from the newspapers. ICE worked hand-in-hand with immigrants rights groups, but excluded its own officers.”...[Full Article]

Report: Most Illegal Immigrants Come From Mexico
A congressional report says that 62 percent of the 10.8 million illegal immigrants in the United States come from Mexico

A new congressional report sure to stir up the heated immigration debate finds that about 1 in 4 foreigners in America are here illegally and that 62 percent of them come from Mexico through America's most porous border. Using brand new data, the Congressional Budget Office also reports that 25 percent of "noncitizens," or those here illegally or with temporary passes, live in poverty.

Overall, the CBO found that there are about 39 million foreign-born people living in the United States, making up more than 12 percent of the population, which is the largest since 1920, the height of the European migration to the United States. Of those, about 10.8 million are here illegally and the subject of much of the discussion in the immigration debate...[Full Article]

Illegal alien charged with sexually assaulting boy in Florida

On Tuesday, Collier County sheriff's deputies arrested Pedro Reyes-Diaz, 36, after an underage boy reported that the suspect kidnapped him at knife point and forced him to perform several sex acts.

According to investigators, the boy was abducted from the Coral Palm apartment complex in Golden Gate, taken to another apartment, and forced to have oral and anal sex with Reyes-Diaz...[Full Article]