ICE Union President Tells Sens. Cornyn and Rubio that S.744 Weakens Interior Enforcement
In a letter to Senators Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas), ICE Union President Chris Crane says the Gang of Eight's bill, S.744, is flawed because it places "new restrictions on interior enforcement." Crane writes that the bill would make the current situation worse and more hazardous and urges them to reject S.744 and instead focus on Rep. Trey Gowdy's (R-S.C.) interior enforcement bill and Rep. John Barrow's (D-Ga.) border security and interior enforcement legislation introduced in the House.
Crane has already urged the entire Senate to oppose the Gang of Eight's legislation, but his letter today is in response to both Sens. Cornyn and Rubio's insistence that the border security provisions need to be strengthened while ignoring the interior enforcement provisions.
Crane writes:
It has come to my attention that you are both working on possible amendments to the Senate immigration bill in an attempt to address growing concerns about the bill's problematic security and enforcement provisions. I am concerned that the public commentary to date regarding your amendments has not included any mention of repairing ICE's dismantled enforcement authorities and practices.
No reforms to S. 744 will be successful unless interior enforcement concerns are addressed and resolved. Any plan is doomed to fail that does not empower ICE agents to enforce the laws enacted by Congress—and that does not put an end to the unlawful abuse of prosecutorial discretion by political appointees.
You can view the full letter here.