Veteran ICE Agent loses job for enforcing imigration laws

An 18 year veteran Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent is facing suspension for refusing to release a person he knew to be an illegal alien. The ICE agent and his partner were conducting surveillance on the vehicle of a known criminal alien. A subject got into the car but upon his arrest and detention turned out to not be the target of the investigation but still illegally within the United States.

The veteran agent decided to go forward with the detention of the subject even though the subject did not meet the criteria for deportation set by the Obama administration. Two supervisors ordered the veteran agent to let the subject go and a disagreement ensued that eventually led to a letter of proposed suspension for the agent over the incident.

President Obama and his administration have dramatically altered policy regarding the apprehension and deportation of aliens illegally within the United States. Those who have been here without committing another criminal infraction are virtually ignored while those who meet the criteria as a “dreamer,” those aliens who arrived here as children and attended school here, have been officially recognized by the Obama administration and allowed to reside here.

These new guidelines and ICE’s implementation of the weakened laws requiring the release of aliens illegally within the United States impact all of us whether you live in Spokane, Washington or Miami Florida. Only a few years ago, Trooper James Saunders of the Washington State Patrol was murdered by an illegal alien in Eastern Washington after that alien was missed by immigration officers.

Most veteran officers are passionate about the enforcement of the law. Changes to policies to immigration laws for political reasons can lead to confrontations such as in this case. Since its creation, ICE has had internal feuding due to Customs and Immigration Special Agents being combined into one agency and working jointly. In February of this year an ICE Special Agent shot and killed his supervisor at the ICE offices in Long Beach, California. Before the creation of ICE after 9/11, the murderer was assigned with the Immigration and Naturalization Service while the victim had been assigned to Customs.