Obama Dream Act Executive Order Causes ICE Confusion

A top union official for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers said at a press conference headed by Senator Jeff Sessions, R(AL) that President Barack Obama’s administration has ordered ICE agents to accept statements by illegal immigrants if they claim they qualify for Obama’s administrative DREAM Act. Agents are to believe statements at face value and without any verification.

Chris Crane, president of the National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council, explained how the new selective immigration enforcement is affecting the ICE agents:

“As we still wait on detailed guidance from the administration, it’s impossible to understand the full scope of the administration’s changes, but what we’ve seen so far concerns us greatly,” Crane, said. “As one example, prosecutorial discretion for DREAMers is solely based on the individual’s claims. Our orders are: If an alien says they went to high school, then let them go. If they say they have a GED, then let them go.”

“Officers have been told that there is no burden for the alien to prove anything,” he continued. “Even with the greatly relaxed policies, the alien is not required to prove that they meet any of the new criteria.”

This new directive contradicts Homeland Security’s own words: “Only those individuals who can prove through verifiable documentation that they meet these criteria will be eligible for deferred action.”

Evidence of this new policy was detailed in a story last month at CDN by Pinal County Arizona Sheriff Paul Babeu. As soon as the new policy went into effect so called ‘dreamers’ were allowed to be released if they simply told officers they were qualified to stay in the US.

“The lawlessness must end,” Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions, whose office organized the presser, said. “They’ve handcuffed and muffled those charged with protecting the public safety and the integrity of our borders,” Sessions said. “Such action has not only weakened our security but our democracy. All Americans, immigrant and native born, will have a better future if our nation remains unique in the world for its special reverence for the rule of law and fairness in our immigration system.”

Senator Chuck Grassley R(IA), the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the policy is a political act by Obama meant to garner votes. “The president campaigns in 2008 that, in the first year, he’s going to have immigration issues solved,” Grassley said. “At this point, after three-and-a-half years, we have not seen any bill whatsoever. So, then as is a core pattern in this administration, you got to blame somebody else, so it [the administration] comes up with this statement: ‘if Congress won’t, I will.’”

In a tight presidential election will this obvious attempt to buy votes further endear DREAM Act subscribers to the Obama camp or will the blatant overstepping of the president through executive order turn away voters?