Northern Colorado Gazette

Part of pattern regarding immigration enforcement

by Jack Minor –

In yet another sign of lax enforcement on the border, the Department of Homeland Security has instructed Border Patrol agents to stop conducting random searches of vehicles at transportation hubs.

Prior to the directive, border patrol agents would often conduct what was called “transportation checks” at airports, train and bus stations within 100 miles of the border and question individuals when warranted. The checks would often enable them to catch illegal aliens, some of which could be potential terrorists before they could escape into the heart of the country.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform says that agents have now been ordered to stop the checks. Agents have said that rather than conducting checks based on suspicious behavior, they have been ordered to only conduct checks based on actual specific evidence regarding a threat.

FAIR said that while the elimination of inspections is apparent to individuals at the border, DHS is attempting to deny any policy change has taken place. Kent Lundgren, chairman of the National Association of Former border Patrol Officers said the government was being less than candid when they claimed nothing has changed.

The policy seems to be part of a general pattern regarding a failure to enforce immigration laws.

Recently, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano was grilled by the House Judiciary Committee over the agency’s failure to aggressively enforce immigration laws. A series of documents known as the Morton memos have surfaced. The memos reveal that DHS has begun implementing de facto amnesty via executive order and policy directives.

The memos revealed that agents were told to limit deportations to those who have been convicted of crimes, and discouraging Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents from taking any action on individuals who would qualify for amnesty under the DREAM act.

ICE has also been releasing aliens convicted of a crime if the agency determines their crimes are not serious enough. When pressed as to what specific crimes were considered “not serious,” Napolitano told Congress she had no idea, nor how the statistics were tracked.

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Tags: American, American Immigration Reform, border, Border Patrol, conduct, Congress, Customs Enforcement, DHS, DREAM, Fair, Homeland Security, house judiciary committee, ice, idea, immigration, Kent Lundgren, patrol, policy, Secretary Janet Napolitano, sign