Homeland Sec. Dismisses Deportation Cases

In a remarkable move that has stunned the legal profession, the Department of Homeland Security is systematically dismissing pending deportation cases against illegal aliens, even when the offenders have been previously convicted of crimes in the U.S.

The government agency charged with keeping America safe quietly began dropping cases against deportable illegal immigrants about a month ago, according to a story in Texas’s largest newspaper. The effort began in Houston and has baffled local immigration attorneys who say the government dismissed their clients’ deportation even when expulsion was virtually guaranteed. “It was absolutely fantastic,” said one lawyer who had three cases dismissed this week.

Five full-time Homeland Security attorneys are assigned to “review” all active cases in Houston’s immigration court, which is among the nation’s busiest, and an undisclosed number of others are reviewing cases nationwide. The plan is part of the Obama Administration’s broader strategy to prioritize the deportation of illegal aliens who present a national security or public safety threat. Undocumented immigrants determined by the administration to be harmless will be allowed to stay in the U.S.

In some cases, Homeland Security officials will allow illegal immigrants with criminal convictions to go free as long as the crimes don’t involve drunken driving, family violence or a sexual offense. For the most part, illegal aliens who have been in the U.S. for at least two years without a felony conviction will be allowed to stay, according to an attorney who serves as a liaison between the government and the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Can you say backdoor amnesty? It’s no secret that the president wants to legalize the country’s estimated 12 million undocumented aliens and in fact he has a backup plan to accomplish it if Congress doesn’t pass legislation to do it. Earlier this month a conservative news magazine exposed an internal Homeland Security document detailing the plan to enact “meaningful immigration reform absent legislative action.”

The administration has also implemented other measures to protect illegal aliens while an amnesty plan is crafted, including a directive prohibiting both federal and local law enforcement officers from arresting illegal immigrants as a result of traffic violations and an order halting the removal of some 700,000 undocumented students nationwide.