Immigration Agents Ask Judge to Block Obama Initiative

Article subtitle: 
[Illegal aliens in custody] ‘I fall under Obama’s Dream Act’
Article author: 
Thomas Korosec & Andrew Harris
Article publisher: 
Bloomberg
Article date: 
8 April 2013
Article category: 
National News
Medium
Article Body: 

Ten U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are asking a federal judge to block an initiative by the Obama administration that defers deportation action against law-abiding undocumented immigrants.

Announced by President Barack Obama last year, the program allows the children of undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. before age 16 to remain in the country if they have no criminal record and meet other criteria.
 
The agents sued ICE and the federal Department of Homeland Security over the policy in August. U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Dallas is hearing arguments today on a request to block the measure.
 
“Officers are applying the directive to people detained in jails, not kids in school. It is now the story in the jails for aliens to use to avoid arrest and deportation,” lead plaintiff Christopher L. Crane testified in court today.
 
He is president of the National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council, a 7,600-member federal immigration agents’ union.
 
O’Connor in January denied a government request to throw out the case, ruling that the agents were legally qualified to pursue most of their claims...
 
Also testifying today was ICE agent and co-plaintiff Samuel Martin, who said he works in jails and prisons in El Paso, Texas. He told the court that about a third of the detainees he interviews claim to be eligible for deferred action.
 
“They voice it to us. They say, ‘I fall under Obama’s Dream Act,’” [said] Martin. Aliens found to not have a felony conviction are taken at their word that they have otherwise complied with requirements for deferred action, he said.
 
 

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