http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...nt-hiring-surge-end-to-catch-and-release.html
DHS secretary orders immigration agent hiring surge, end to 'catch-and-release'
Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly moved Tuesday to implement a host of immigration enforcement changes ordered by President Trump, directing agency heads to hire thousands more officers, end so-called “catch-and-release” policies and begin work on the president’s promised U.S.-Mexico border wall.
“It is in the national interest of the United States to prevent criminals and criminal organizations from destabilizing border security,” Kelly wrote in one of two memos released Tuesday by the department.
The memos follow up on Trump’s related executive actions from January and, at their heart, aim to toughen enforcement by expanding the categories of illegal immigrants targeted for deportation.
The memos cover a sprawling set of initiatives including:
Prioritizing criminal illegal immigrants and others for deportation, including those convicted or charged with “any criminal offense,” or who have “abused” any public welfare program
Expanding the 287(g) program, which allows participating local officers to act as immigration agents – and had been rolled back under the Obama administration
Starting the planning, design and construction of a U.S.-Mexico border wall
Hiring 10,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and officers
Hiring 5,000 Border Patrol agents
Ending “catch-and-release” policies under which illegal immigrants subject to deportation potentially are allowed to “abscond” and fail to appear at removal hearings
DHS secretary orders immigration agent hiring surge, end to 'catch-and-release'
Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly moved Tuesday to implement a host of immigration enforcement changes ordered by President Trump, directing agency heads to hire thousands more officers, end so-called “catch-and-release” policies and begin work on the president’s promised U.S.-Mexico border wall.
“It is in the national interest of the United States to prevent criminals and criminal organizations from destabilizing border security,” Kelly wrote in one of two memos released Tuesday by the department.
The memos follow up on Trump’s related executive actions from January and, at their heart, aim to toughen enforcement by expanding the categories of illegal immigrants targeted for deportation.
The memos cover a sprawling set of initiatives including:
Prioritizing criminal illegal immigrants and others for deportation, including those convicted or charged with “any criminal offense,” or who have “abused” any public welfare program
Expanding the 287(g) program, which allows participating local officers to act as immigration agents – and had been rolled back under the Obama administration
Starting the planning, design and construction of a U.S.-Mexico border wall
Hiring 10,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and officers
Hiring 5,000 Border Patrol agents
Ending “catch-and-release” policies under which illegal immigrants subject to deportation potentially are allowed to “abscond” and fail to appear at removal hearings