ICE gave me the cold shoulder

Some of you will remember my story from many postings ago. The original link is below, for those of you who didn’t have a chance to read it.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8193031

I now know that writing that posting was therapeutic, because I actually put information out in public that I had been hiding for many years. It was a response to my anger at what was going on in Arizona and on the rest of the country around the immigration debate.

BTW, many of you here at DU were incredibly supportive. Thank you so much!

After writing that text and reflecting upon my condition, I decided to give myself up for deportation. The decision was not easy, but I made it because I’m really tired of being a second class citizen in a country I consider my own and contribute so much to.

Once in deportation proceedings, I’d also be able to apply for a relief called cancellation of removal. It is a relief granted to very few individuals who can show that their departure would cause “extreme and unusual hardship on American citizens”, amongst other things. The difficulty lies in the statute’s language. Extreme and Unusual does not apply simply to a child or wife left behind, loss of property or lower standards of life because those are all very common issues to many who are deported.

Even so, I decided it would be best for me and my family to resolve the issue once and for all. I was ready to face the consequences and move on even if things did not end up the way I desired. I hired an attorney who wrote to ICE, detailed my immigration status, and requested that I be put in removal proceedings.

A month went by and a surprising letter arrived from ICE, signed by the local director. Below is an excerpt:

“After reviewing the information you have provided, I have determined that Mr. GetTheFacts does not meet this office’s investigative priorities and therefore I must deny your request to commence removal proceedings”.

!?!

Of course, my family is very happy because everyone thought I was a little off when I decided to give myself up. Now, how crazy is that? Immigration won’t deport me, but they won’t create a pathway for me to regularize my situation. Maybe, as another friend told me, it is a big reverse psychology tactic. :)

How failed is a system where the law makes so little sense that even the people who are supposed to enforce it don‘t? What is worse: politicians keep choosing to play political football with this issue – Democrats and Republicans alike, without looking for a real solution.

Why do we keep electing officials who are so afraid of losing their job that they can’t perform it properly? And why don’t we demand that they do so?

Now I sit here and wait to watch the media discuss President Obama’s speech on Immigration on the Sunday Shows. Just words? I hope not, though some will say Hope is something that isn't as popular right now as it was when we first elected him…

They laughed when I called them to report myself and declined to deport me or do anything about it. They told me to "buy your own ticket home". I told them I was working illegally and they said then I'll be able to afford my own ticket then, won't I? lol

I think there's a number of people each year who want a free ride home and the ICE people don't want to pay for the flights, so they won't investigate someone who admits their "crime".

:P

to buy a ticket on a flight? Weird.

The passport was from Britain, the other two I got locally.

is such an amazing bureaucracy that I'm not surprised you received such a short and sweet message. They make a decision, tell you what it is and then assume you know what it means. Did they tell you what the next step is?

Personally I think you should be talking to the administrators at USCIS, not the enforcers at ICE. This could mean that ICE is not worried about someone like you, small fish and all. ;-)

You may get a bit more information now with this letter in hand by dealing with the district offices. Continue to use the immigration lawyer, as long as you trust them.

The law currently does not allow for any relief for someone in my position. My only solution at this point would be to marry an American citizen - problem is, I'm already married... But although not a citizen, my wife is a legal resident. In five years, she will be eligible for citizenship and be allowed to petition for me to stay legally. Until then, I hope that the administration will push for immigration reform on some level.

given an order from 'highest levels of the government' that ICE is to stop arresting and deporting undocumented aliens

with no criminal background.

ICE offices in residential areas (like San Bernadino for example) have been closed.

ICE officers have been transferred to prisons and to criminal task forces to sweep for undocumented aliens with suspected criminal ties or convictions.

In the San Diego area, where deportations of regular citizens used to be in the thousands, union sources have told me that a single non criminal arrest was made and the ICE officer was reprimanded.


Large scale deportations still happen every day at the border for those that are deemed to be recent arrivals and who are caught by the Border Patrol.

Your story confirms what I have been telling people for some time, the change in ICE's rules of engagement is one of the most dramatic between the two administrations.


President Obama doesn't have legislative authority and the changes you want have to be passed by the Senate. There is a huge difference between the Democrats who support a change and the Repubicans who are sabotaging it.


Good luck to you.

And, Good luck to you, getthefacts!

It's no secret that this Administration has shifted enforcement priority away from workplace raids that round up undocumented workers to apprehension of criminal aliens and enforcement actions against employers.

Administration officials, including DHS Secretary Napolitano, have spoken about this policy change--as well as beefed-up border security under President Obama--in congressional testimony, speeches and public interviews.

These are positive changes that should be accompanied by comprehensive immigration reform, which has stalled in Congress only because of the intransigence of Republican legislators. Now, events and increasing pressures are likely to force a renewed legislative effort for reform.

here's what the deal is. This issue is a HUGE moneymaker for the Republican Party. The fear and anger they stir up is invaluable to them. They will never act to mitigate this issue, any more than they will declare abortion illegal. They had ten years to do so whne they were in power. Didn't see anything, did you?

It's much more valuable as a tool because this isn't about undocumented people who come here for a better life. It's about dividing the classes and diverting the base away from the real cause of the problem, the rapacious corporatists ravaging the country.

Get your flak jacket on first though.

Don