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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: LeAnn Mezzacapo
May 9, 2013 [emailprotected]
Law Officers Write Congress To Warn Gang Of 8 Legislation WillEndanger Public
Safety
Officers write: The legislation before us may have manysatisfactory components for powerful
lobbying groups and other special interests, but on the subjectsof public safety, border security,and interior enforcement, thislegislation fails. It is a dramatic step in the wrongdirection.
WASHINGTONThe joint letter is being distributed to all lawmakersin Congress detailing
the specific public safety and national security concerns lawenforcement officers across the
country have about the Gang of Eight immigration plan.
Upon release of the letter, Chris Crane, President of theNational ICE Council commented:
In just a few short days, law enforcement officers from acrossthe country have joined this letter
to all Members of Congress raising serious concerns regardinghow the Gang of Eightlegislation would put public safety andnational security at risk. We expect the number of signers
to continue to grow in the days ahead.
A full text of the letter follows:
Dear Esteemed Members of Congress,
We write to you today as a diverse group of both law enforcementofficers and representatives to
express our deep concerns regarding immigration bill S. 744, theBorder Security, EconomicOpportunity, and Immigration ModernizationAct, which is currently before the Senate
Judiciary Committee. S. 744 will profoundly impact the securityof the country, our nationscommunities, and the people we as lawenforcement officers are sworn to protect.
Driven by mere speculation that S. 744 may be enacted byCongress, illegal border crossings
have spiked dramatically. Thousands of unaccompanied children,runaways and families nowattempt to illegally enter the UnitedStates in hopes of receiving legalization. This trend will
surely continue after enactment as S. 744 provides no commitmentof stronger borderenforcement for at least five to ten yearsfollowing the initial legalization phase. Thousands will
be victimized or perish as they attempt the treacherous crossinginto the United States in hopes ofattaining legal status. Cut offdates established in S. 744 will mean little to those in other
countries who are unfamiliar with the 867 page bill. Without astrategy of border security first,
S. 744 will only draw more illegal immigrants into the UnitedStates resulting in unnecessaryharm to many.
Border security is also critical to preventing criminal elementsand national security threats fromentering the United States.Perhaps at no time in our nations history is border securitymore
important to maintaining public safety than it is now.Unfortunately, S. 744 provides noguarantee of increased bordersecurity. Instead, it relinquishes Congress authority toestablish
border security measures to the Department of Homeland Security(DHS) which will then
7/30/2019 Law Enforcement Groups Warn Gang of 8 Bill EndangersPublic
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: LeAnn Mezzacapo
May 9, 2013 [emailprotected]
develop its own unilateral border security plan. DHS is thenpermitted to measure its ownsuccesses and failures afterimplementing that plan. Clearly recognizing the high probabilitythat
this approach will fail and DHS will not develop a successfulborder security plan, S. 744establishes a commission to reviewsecurity at the border five years after the plan has been
implemented (if the Secretary decides such a commission isneeded). But the powerless
commission will have only the authority to make recommendationson how to achieve bordersecurity. Those recommendations may verywell be ignored by DHS. It is important to note thatS. 744dissolves the commission 30 days after it makes its recommendationsto the President, the
Secretary of Homeland Security, and Congress. S. 744 also grantsthe Secretary the authority tounilaterally determine the amount ofborder fencing that will be constructed, which could result
in little or no fencing being built. In summary, S. 744 appearsto provide no tangible provisionsfor increased border security.
S. 744 also does not address current failures of interiorenforcement that will render any
legislation ineffective, regardless of its provisions.Currently, ICE officers cannot arrest orremove most illegalimmigrants they come in contact with, even if officers believethose
individuals present a risk to public safety. To avoid offendingspecial interests, ICE officers arealso prohibited from makingstreet arrests, and are also prohibited from arresting illegal
immigrants who are public charges or who violate laws involvingfraudulent documents. ICEofficers are under orders to wait untilimmigration violators commit and are convicted of
criminal offenses and placed in jail by state authorities beforethey can act in their capacity asFederal immigration officers andmake an arrest. Even though illegal entry and visa overstay
violations account for the majority of the 11 million illegalimmigrants currently residing in theUnited States, DHS and ICE havedirected ICE officers not to enforce the laws related to these
offenses.
Congress can and must take decisive steps to limit thediscretion of political appointees and
empower ICE and CBP to perform their respective missions andenforce the laws enacted byCongress. Rather than limiting the powerof those political appointees within DHS, S. 744provides them withnearly unlimited discretion, which will serve only to furthercripple the law
enforcement missions of these agencies.
Further, S. 744 establishes a biographic (instead of biometric)exit system that has alreadyproven easy to circumvent and notworthy of investment. S. 744 limits the exit system to air and
sea ports and does not expand the program to include monitoringof the nations land borders.This will not provide adequate coverageand security to the nations ports of entry and will result
in identifying only a fraction of the visa violators unlawfullypresent in the United States. Evenif an effective biometric exitsystem is eventually established, the size of the ICE workforceis
too small to effectively utilize it. With only 5,000 ICEimmigration officers nationwide - a forcesmaller than many policedepartments - ICE lacks the resources to locate and apprehendvisa
violators identified by the new exit system, rendering thesystem useless. S. 744 does not providefor any guaranteed increasein the number of ICE immigration officers.
Prior to the completion of any new enforcement mechanisms, S.744 creates a new legal status
for illegal immigrants, known as Registered ProvisionalImmigrant status (RPI), which forgivesprevious Federal immigrationviolations. However, Section 2101 of S. 744 also explicitlyopens
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this legal status to those with long criminal records, gangaffiliations, felony arrests, and thosewith multiple misdemeanorcriminal convictions. Furthermore, S. 744 allows criminal aliensto
continue to commit and be convicted of criminal offenses afterreceiving provisional legal status,as long as the individualsconvictions remain below the eligibility threshold.
For instance, the Secretary of DHS mustwaive misdemeanorcriminal convictions forpurposes of determining an illegalimmigrants eligibility for RPI status. In many states,misdemeanorcrimes include serious offenses such as assault, assault of a lawenforcement
officer, vehicular homicide, possession of drug manufacturingequipment, unlawful placingor discharging of an explosive device,DUI, and sex offenses.
Section 3701 of S. 744 states that illegal immigrants who aremembers of street gangsmost of which are heavily involved incriminal activity and violent crimes in the
communities and areas we policesimply have to claim that theyrenounce their gangaffiliation in order to obtain a waiver thatwould make them admissible to the U.S., and
potentially eligible for legalization and eventual citizenship.We anticipate, as should
Congress, that many gang members will falsely claim to renouncetheir association withcriminal street gangs to obtain legal statusand continue engaging in unlawful conduct in theUnited States.
Section 2101 of S. 744 states that illegal immigrants who havecommitted document fraud,made false statements to authorities, andhave absconded from court-ordered removal
hearings are all eligible to apply for legal status.
Section 2101 of S. 744 directs DHS to ignore convictions understate laws that mirrorfederal laws on crimes such as humansmuggling, harboring, trafficking, and gang crimeswhen approvingapplications for legalization.
This same section also gives the Secretary of Homeland Securityvirtually unlimiteddiscretion to waive any manner of crimes thatwould otherwise make an individual ineligible
for legal statusfor such expansive reasons as family unity,humanitarian purposes or whatthe Secretary believes is in thepublic interest. At least two of these standards appear
undefined by S. 744 or current law, providing politicalappointees with broad authority toestablish their own definitionsof these terms and pardon criminal acts under almost any
circ*mstance.
The bill providesthat individualswho have overstayedvisas areeligible for RPIandcitizenship.As we have learned from the 9/11Commission, more vigorous policing of visa
violators is an essential component of national security. S. 744provides legal status to anestimated 4.5 million visa overstays,including recent arrivals and document forgers. S. 744lackseffective security measures for screening existing and future visaviolators.
The bill states that individuals who have previously beendeported or otherwise removedfrom the country are ineligible toapply for legal status. However, the Secretary is given the
sole andunreviewable discretion to waive that ineligibility forlarge classes of qualifyingaliens.
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Section 2101 of S. 744 prohibits detention and removal of anyperson claiming eligibility forlegalization under S. 744 withoutrequirement to provide proof of eligibility or application.
While business groups, activists, and other special interestswere closely involved in the drafting
of S. 744, law enforcement personnel were excluded from thosemeetings. Immigration officersand state and local law enforcementworking directly within the nations broken immigrationsystem wereprohibited from providing input. As a result, the legislationbefore us may have
many satisfactory components for powerful lobbying groups andother special interests, but onthe subjects of public safety,border security, and interior enforcement, this legislation fails.It isa dramatic step in the wrong direction.
The degree to which this legislation tolerates both past andfuture criminal activities ensures
legalization and a path to citizenship for many criminal aliensand gang members currentlyresiding in the United States.Additionally, S.744 fails to provide for necessary cooperation
between agencies and ignores many of the current problems thatare inimical to the proper
enforcement of the nations immigration laws.
For example, ICE officers are currently directed by DHS to allowadult inmates in jails to lie
about their DREAMer status in order to avoid immigration arrest.As a result, inmates arepermitted to simply walk out of jailswithout being required to provide proof of eligibility for
DREAMer status and without any investigation by ICE. ICEofficers report overhearinginmates coaching one another on how tolie to ICE officers about having DREAMer status to
avoid arrest, yet ICE officers are still powerless to arrestthem. These revelations should alarmevery member of Congress, andindeed, every American. If this legislation were enacted
tomorrow, ICE officers would continue to be powerless toeffectively enforce our nations lawsand provide for public safetyas S. 744 does nothing to end these dangerous agency and
department level directives. DHS will most certainly continue toissue these types of directiveswhich will continue to deterioratethe ability of ICE to provide for public safety and national
security.
We therefore conclude that this legislation fails to meet theneeds of the law enforcementcommunity and would, in fact, be asignificant barrier to the creation of a safe and lawful system
of immigration.
We thank you for hearing our concerns and would be eager toanswer any questions you mayhave.
Sincerely,
Chris Crane, President National ICE Council
Zack Taylor, Chairman National Association of Former BorderPatrol Officers
(NAFBO)
Sheriff Sam Page Rockingham County NC/Vice Co-Chair National
Sheriffs Association Border Security andImmigrationsCommittee
7/30/2019 Law Enforcement Groups Warn Gang of 8 Bill EndangersPublic
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: LeAnn Mezzacapo
May 9, 2013 [emailprotected]
Sheriff David M. Carpenter Lincoln County, NC
Sheriff Andy Stokes Davie County, NC
Sheriff Rick Burris Stanly County, NC
Sheriff Eddie Cathey Union County, NC
Sheriff Prentis Benston Bladen County, NC
Sheriff Darryl Liverman Tyrrell County, NCSheriff Chuck JenkinsFrederick County, Maryland
Sheriff Vic Davis Clay County, NC
Sheriff James Ross Washington County, NC
Sheriff Todd Garrison Dona Ana County, New Mexico/ChairmanSouthwest
Border Sheriffs Coalition
Sheriff Paul Babeu Pinal County, Arizona
Sheriff Terry Johnson Alamance County, NC
Sheriff Matt Murray Curry County, NM
Sheriff Todd Martin Monroe County, PA
Sheriff Thomas Hodgson Bristol County, Massachusetts
Monica L. Shank, Executive
Secretary
Guadalupe County Sheriff's Office, NM
Sheriff Carolyn B. Welsh Chester County, PA
Sheriff Curtis A. Cochran Swain County, NC
Sheriff Clinton "C.J." Walters Bradford County, PA
Sheriff Dan Gibbs Martin County, NC
Sheriff Jeffrey C. Krieg Elk County, PA
Sheriff Larry Rollins Harnett Co. N.C.
Sheriff Eric Foy Venango County, PA
Sheriff Tracy L. Carter Lee County, NC
Sheriff Kenneth L. Klakamp Warren County, PennsylvaniaSheriffDewey Jones Person County, NC
Sheriff Oscar O. Cowen, Jr. Starke County, IN
Sheriff Ronald B. Bruce Hinsdale County, Colorado
Richard Valdemar, Sgt. LASD (Ret.), Gang Expert
