US plans to make it a priority to deport illegal immigrants who are convicted criminals

The Obama administration announced on Thursday that it would generally not deport or expel illegal immigrants who had come to the United States as young children and graduated from high school or served in the armed forces.

White House and immigration officials said they would exercise “prosecutorial discretion” to allow these people to stay in the country while the government focused its enforcement efforts on higher-priority cases involving criminals and people who had flagrantly violated immigration laws.

President Obama is, in effect, doing administratively what he could not persuade Congress to do — allowing the secretary of homeland security to provide relief to a select group of students who are here illegally but show great promise.

Immigrant-rights groups hailed the decision as a major breakthrough that will protect illegal immigrants who were brought to the United States as children. Opponents said the new policy ignores immigration law and will allow people in the country illegally to stay so long as they do not commit serious crimes.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano laid out the new process in a letter to members of Congress, saying DHS and the Department of Justice had created a working group to evaluate all pending deportation cases –- estimated to be more than 300,000 –- and would also screen all new cases. Under the guidelines, auditors would consider a person's age when they arrived in the country, their criminal record, their education and whether they served in the military when determining whether to move forward with their deportation case.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2011/08/feds-to-review-all-deportation-cases-to-cull-serious-crimes/1

GUTIERREZ CALLS DHS DEPORTATION ANNOUNCEMENT AN IMPORTANT VICTORY FOR SENSIBLE IMMIGRATION POLICY

"I am proud of the President and Secretary Napolitano for standing up for a more rational approach to enforcing our current immigration laws," Congressman says

(Washington) – Today, Congressman Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL) issued a statement reacting to an announcement that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would review deportation cases based on newly-issued guidelines establishing which cases are priorities for deportation and which are not. The review of pending deportation cases and the instructions to all elements of DHS over how immigrants that meet certain criteria should be handled has come after months of sustained advocacy by Congressman Gutierrez, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, other Democratic leaders in the House and Senate, and determined public pressure by from clergy, advocates, immigrants, and DREAM Act students nationwide. The announcement by DHS will apparently make one of Congressman Gutierrez' key demands a reality: putting a halt to the deportation of young people who were brought to the U.S. as children and who are crime free and pursuing their education; in other words, those who would qualify for the DREAM Act, which was passed by the House of Representatives in 2010 but died in the Senate when only 55 out of 100 Senators voted to move the bill forward.

The Congressman was briefed on today's DHS announcement by the Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) John Morton by telephone yesterday evening. The following is a statement by Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez:

I have been vocal in my criticism of the President and his Administration over the dramatic increase in deportations on his watch and have traveled the country urging him to use his power under existing law to do what he can to help. This is the Barack Obama I have been waiting for and that Latino and immigrant voters helped put in office to fight for sensible immigration policies. Focusing scarce resources on deporting serious criminals, gang bangers, and drug dealers and setting aside non-criminals with deep roots in the U.S. until Congress fixes our laws is the right thing to do and I am proud of the President and Secretary Napolitano for standing up for a more rational approach to enforcing our current immigration laws.

Today is a victory not just for immigrants but for the American people as a whole because it makes no sense to deport DREAM Act students and others who can make great contributions to America and pose no threat. It is not in our national interest to send away young people who were raised in the U.S. and have been educated here and want only to contribute to this country's success.

I have asked ICE Director John Morton to come to Capitol Hill and brief Members of Congress on how this will affect their constituents as soon as Congress reconvenes. My Chicago office and Congressional offices across the country have been inundated with cases of DREAM Act students, military families, and U.S. citizens whose families are being threatened with deportation or who have actually been deported. Putting the new priorities into practice so that cases can be reviewed and getting the word out to caseworkers in Congressional offices, in the legal community, and to individual immigrants facing deportation is critical and time-sensitive and we will work with ICE and DHS on that immediately.

This action does not address all of my concerns, but it is the start of a process that will save many American families and individuals who deserve to live long and productive lives in this country. There are still U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents in families with undocumented immigrants who can obtain legal status under existing law, but who do not do so because of an unfair three- and ten-year penalty barring them from the U.S. if they apply. The rapidly expanding "Secure Communities" state and local enforcement program that undermines public safety and has caught tens of thousands of non-criminals in its dragnet remains a big problem. But today's announcement shows that this President is willing to put muscle behind his words and to use his power to intervene when the lives of good people are being ruined by bad laws.