COMPLAINT HOTLINE FOR ILLEGALS TO VENT THEIR FEELINGS ABOUT BORDER PATROL
"Obama Administration Sets Up Complaint Hotline for Illegal Immigrants":
Written by Warren Mass
SEE: http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/immigration/item/20088-obama-administration-sets-up-complaint-hotline-for-illegal-immigrants; republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has established a hotline so that illegal immigrants who think that their apprehension and pending deportation might not be in compliance with the new Obama administration amnesty “priorities” may call and tell CBP about their experience.
A message posted on the CBP website reads:
If you (or a family member) were apprehended and processed by a CBP officer or Border Patrol agent and then placed into removal proceedings and you believe that you do not fall within the DHS enforcement priorities, please tell us about your experience by contacting the CBP INFO Center at: [phone numbers follow]
CBP lists several categories of illegal immigrants who might wish to avail themselves of this service, including “individuals in CBP custody,” “individuals with removal orders who are scheduled for removal and are not in CBP custody,” and “individuals who wish to file a complaint regarding a CBP removal encounter.”
The decision drew immediate response from Shawn Moran, vice president of the National Border Patrol Council, the labor union that represents CBP agents and support staff.
“Instead of supporting our agents, this administration has decided it is more important to find new ways to solicit complaints and invite ridicule against them,” Moran told the Washington Times. “We demand that this administration spend more time defending the men and women defending our nation and less time promoting the extreme agendas of pro-illegal-immigration organizations.”
Moran said he would rather see the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) set up a complaint line for agents instead, so they could register their concerns over the Obama administration’s “failure to fully enforce our immigration laws.”
To make it easier for illegal immigrants to take advantage of the Obama administration’s new executive action policies, the CBP page gives people the ability to complain online, by clicking on a “Submit a Complaint” button. The person filing the complaint is instructed to “include all relevant details including your name, where and when the incident happened, and a full explanation for further review of why you believe you or your family member was incorrectly detained contrary to the new DHS enforcement priorities.” (Emphasis in original.)
Once clicking on the button, the user has the option of giving his or her name and receiving a reply or remaining anonymous. Those who select the "anonymous" option are encouraged to “include, as applicable, where this occurred (i.e. port of entry, Border Patrol Sector, etc) the date and time, and the name(s) or description(s) of any CBP personnel involved.”
This anonymity feature turns the concept of an “anonymous tip line” on its head, allowing those who have admittedly broken our laws to anonymously name and complain about our law enforcement agents!
A notice posted on the CBP website correctly states that last November 20, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson “announced new immigration enforcement priorities and guidance on the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in a memorandum entitled Policies for the Apprehension, Detention and Removal of Undocumented Immigrants.”
As was noted in The New American article on January 13, Johnson’s memorandum effectively lets non-criminal illegal immigrants off the hook. It states:
Under this revised policy, those who entered illegally prior to January 1, 2014, who never disobeyed a prior order of removal, and were never convicted of a serious offense, will not be priorities for removal. This policy also provides clear guidance on the exercise of prosecutorial discretion. [Emphasis added.]
Note that the memo does not say the non-criminal illegals will have a lower priority for removal, but that they willnot be priorities for removal, period.
Furthermore, those who have committed no crimes other than crossing the border illegally (which, seemingly, is no longer regarded as a crime by DHS) will not only have their priorities for removal reduced to zero, but they could also be eligible for the deferred action program outlined by President Obama in his November 20 address. The memorandum notes, in part:
DHS will extend eligibility for deferred action to individuals who (i) are not removal priorities under our new policy, (ii) have been in this country at least 5 years, (iii) have children who on the date of this announcement are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents, and (iv) present no other factors that would make a grant of deferred action inappropriate. These individuals will be assessed for eligibility for deferred action on a case-by-case basis, and then be permitted to apply for work authorization, provided they pay a fee.
As we noted earlier, this lack of enforcement of our immigration laws does not sit well with CBP agents. An agent who spoke with Breitbart Texas in January commented on the vast changes in immigration policy that the new executive actions have ushered in:
Before these changes, all illegal aliens arrested by Border Patrol were required to enter the deportation system where they would be scheduled for a deportation hearing at a future date. Under this new system, the illegal aliens are not even required to show up for a hearing ever. Not only are we releasing these people with no hearings scheduled, no notice to appear, but the DHS is forcing Border Patrol to prepare the initial paperwork for the illegal aliens’ work permits.”
The Border Patrol has apparently gone from being a law enforcement agency to a group of social workers. And, with the institution of the CBP hotline, illegal immigrants can now lodge complaints against the agents who are trying to do their jobs by enforcing our immigration laws, and they don’t even have to give their names when doing so.