The House is considering immigration legislation that could result in millions of illegal aliens being legalized in the United States, and now a leader for law enforcement officers tasked with enforcing federal law is warning President Donald Trump not to repeat the Gang of Eight amnesty debacle.
Chris Crane, president of the National Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Council, which represents thousands of ICE officers, said in a letter to President Donald Trump that his organization is “seriously concerned” about the proposed legislation.
The Washington Times reported:
The bill would open the door to massive fraud, would allow people who defied judges’ deportation orders to get on a pathway to citizenship, and fails to make good on Mr. Trump’s promise of a deportation force of 10,000 more Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, Mr. Crane said.
He also complained that the lawmakers who write the bill, under the auspices of House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, never sought out ICE officers to get their input on what would actually work to cut illegal immigration.
“You pledged publicly to ‘have the backs’ of the men and women of ICE law enforcement,” Crane wrote in the letter to Trump. “I am asking you to keep that promise.”
“Mr. Crane’s letter comes just days before Mr. Ryan, and fellow House GOP leaders hope to hold floor votes on their compromise bill and another, more enforcement-heavy bill sponsored by Rep. Bob Goodlatte,” the Times reported.
Crane said in the letter that there are less than 5,000 ICE officers tasked with jurisdiction over as many as 40 million legal and illegal immigrants in the United States.
“After spending years fighting for staffing increases at ICE in the name of public safety, House Republicans have suddenly abandoned their positions and instead now fight to keep ICE dangerously understaffed,” Crane wrote in the letter.
“In keeping with the infamous ‘Gang of 8’ amnesty bill, boots on the ground law enforcement officers were excluded by Republicans from having input on both new bills,” Crane wrote.
“The same House Republicans who condemned the Gang of 8 and Obama administration for not including input, have now done the exact same thing,” Crane wrote.
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