U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary

16/04/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 16/04/2024 20:55

New Report Reveals How the Biden Administration is Allowing Criminal Aliens to Run Free in America

WASHINGTON, D.C.- Today, the House Judiciary Committee released an interim staff report titled, "How the Biden Administration's Lax Immigration Enforcement Allows Dangerous Criminal Aliens to Run Free in American Communities." The report reveals in detail how the Biden Administration's mass catch-and-release operation at the southwest border and the Administration's failure to remove illegal aliens, including criminal aliens, once they are inside the United States have affected American lives.

Instead of ensuring that criminal aliens can be quickly removed from the United States, President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas have made it more difficult for ICE officers to arrest criminals. Mayorkas Memo training materials obtained by the Committee reveal the absurdity of the Administration's "enforcement priorities." The materials include a laundry list of "mitigating factors" for an ICE officer to consider before arresting or removing an alien, including:
  • An illegal alien's age and length of presence in the United States;
  • "[A] mental condition that may have contributed to the criminal conduct, or a physical or mental condition requiring care or treatment";
  • "[I]mpact of removal on family in the United States, such as loss of provider or caregiver";
  • "[W]hether the [alien] may be eligible for humanitarian protection or other immigration relief"; and
  • "[T]ime since an offense and evidence of rehabilitation."

To further inoculate ICE officers against pursuing arrests and removals of criminal aliens, the Mayorkas Memo training materials offer case hypotheticals to determine whether a criminal alien should be arrested. In one example, the training materials ask whether a drug trafficker who served a 20-year prison sentence after a RICO investigation "should. . . be a priority for apprehension and removal." The materials never answer that seemingly clear-cut question; instead, the training highlights that the alien is 72 years old and has "diabetes, hypertension, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)." In such a circumstance, ICE officers are directed to examine not the law but the alien's "family or community support" and "any record of rehabilitation while incarcerated."

A Deputy Field Office Director, who previously served as Acting Field Office Director in two jurisdictions, testified to the Committee that aliens who commit crimes such as larceny or theft are not immigration enforcement priorities for the Biden Administration, and enforcement action against an alien who committed a "property crime" would even have to receive additional review.

A senior ICE official also testified to the Committee that increased immigration from Venezuela and the limited ability to remove illegal aliens to that country affect ICE's ability to conduct enforcement, including arrests, detention, and removals, of Venezuelans in the United States. Instead of imposing sanctions on Venezuela for its refusal to accept the return of its nationals, the Biden Administration has created illegal categorical parole programs to reward Venezuelans, all but ensuring that thousands of Venezuelans can remain in the United States indefinitely, even those who may have a criminal history.

The Biden Administration's open-borders, catch-and-release policies not only have incentivized aliens from all around the world to travel to the southwest border for near guaranteed release into the United States but also have endangered national security and public safety across the country. Contrary to the Biden Administration's justification for mass release of illegal aliens into the country, releasing criminal aliens into American communities is neither "humanitarian" nor a "significant public benefit" to citizens of the United States and law-abiding legal immigrants. Until President Biden reverses his policies, utilizes the myriad immigration enforcement tools at his disposal, and secures the southwest border, more Americans will tragically and unnecessarily die at the hands of criminal illegal aliens who are released into the United States and allowed to remain in the country.

Read the full interim staff report here.
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