A federal program to work with local law enforcement to remove dangerous illegal immigrant criminals, implemented just weeks after Kate Steinle’s murder put the issue in the national spotlight, has resulted in fewer deportations, according to analysts.
(FOX)- The Priority Enforcement Program (PEP) was introduced last summer as something of a compromise to get sanctuary cities to work with the federal government on deportations by only requesting that local authorities hand over the most dangerous criminals. Statistics show that fewer local law enforcement agencies are refusing to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, yet far fewer illegal immigrant criminals are being deported under the current scheme.
“The end result is that ICE has not improved its performance through its detainer program in apprehending individuals who the agency seeks to deport,” stated a recent report by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a data research organization based at Syracuse University.
Sanctuary cities, the broad term for more than 200 state and local jurisdictions that have policies barring cooperation with ICE, came under intensified fire after the July 1, 2015, murder of Steinle in San Francisco by an illegal immigrant who had recently been released from local custody. By law, local law enforcement agencies are supposed to turn illegal immigrants over to the feds for deportation when they are due to be released from custody, but illegal immigration advocates say the policy violates the subject’s civil rights.
Republicans in Congress, as well as GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, have called for cutting off federal funding to sanctuary cities.
Jeh Johnson, secretary of ICE’s parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, announced PEP was taking effect on July 30, 2015, saying it replaced a previous system under which ICE ordered local law enforcement agencies to hold and turn over all illegal immigrant criminals eligible for deportation. In addition to not garnering local cooperation, the older system meant non-violent criminals or those merely suspected of crimes could be deported if they were here illegally.