Urgent letter from Pres. of US Immigration Enforcement (ICE) to GOP House Speaker Ryan about national crisis at US border, 8/2/16: House Speaker Paul Ryan's words and actions are making the crisis worse. US is forced to release dangerous criminal aliens into American communities daily, a theat to public safety Ryan does nothing to stop. His words have led to more illegals entering US with belief they can stay. Ryan prefers illegal alien drunk drivers be free to kill Americans instead of 'clogging up jails'

"The national union that represents 7,000 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers claims that House Speaker Paul Ryan is playing a role in the national immigration crisis by not voicing strong support for law enforcement's war on the administration's open-border practices.
 
In a stinging letter to Ryan, the president of the National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council charged that Ryan's legislative moves and rhetoric have led to more illegals entering the country with the belief they can stay."...8/4/16, "ICE union demands Ryan help end 'national crisis' on border," Washington Examiner, Paul Bedard
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"National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council
of the American Federation of Government Employees, affiliated with the AFL-CIO
 
August 2, 2016

The Honorable Paul Ryan
Speaker of the House of Representatives
H-232 The Capitol
Washington, DC 20515 

Dear Mr. Speaker, 

I write to you today in my capacity as the President of the National Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Council, representing approximately 7,000 ICE law enforcement officers and staff. I am also an ICE officer myself. I am writing because I have multiple concerns I would like to address with you.

We are in the middle of a national crisis—immigration officers are prohibited from enforcing the laws of the United States, and as a result dangerous criminal aliens are being released into
American communities daily. I am concerned that as House Speaker, you have not spoken out about any of the issues confronting our officers or the threat to public safety presented by the lawless immigration policies of the Obama Administration. As headlines chronicle our national crisis, neither you nor your office has reached out to us in any way. Instead, despite our vocal opposition, as House Speaker, you pushed an omnibus spending bill that funds the current lawlessness.

Your 2015 spending bill funded sanctuary cities, the resettlement of illegal alien border crossers, the release of criminal aliens, and executive amnesty—policies which jeopardize the safety and security of the American people.

These programs should have never been funded. ICE officers have also been disturbed to hear some of the recent comments made by the Republican House Speaker. While nine of my fellow ICE officers and I sued President Obama in part for his unconstitutional Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals [DACA] program for so-called "DREAMers", as House Speaker, you voted to fully fund the program. You have previously said that it is the job of a U.S. lawmaker to "put yourself in... [the] shoes" of "the DREAMer who is waiting" presumably for a more permanent exemption from U.S. immigration law.

As a 2015 report from the Government Accountability Office has confirmed, President Obama's 2012 DREAMer amnesty had a significant role in sparking the nation's border crisis. Foreign nationals flood across the border because they have been led to believe that if they can make it here, they can stay. I am sorry to say that your rhetoric could be adding to that perception.
 
Children crossing our border are molested and perish. Any political leader who truly cares about these children will stop the rhetoric and begin working with law enforcement to develop sound immigration policy to end the crisis on our nation's border.
 
In a June Fox News interview, you said that the reason you have not pushed Kate's Law (named for Kate Steinle) to increase penalties for illegal re-entry is because you do not want to be "clogging up our jails" with illegal drunk drivers. Respectfully, it is unclear to us why the Speaker of the People's House does not want to protect the American public from the reckless and potentially deadly driving of illegal aliens.

According to a report sponsored by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Study, on average 8,400 people die each year in crashes with unlicensed drivers. As ABC News reported, "One in every five fatal car crashes in the United States involves a driver who does not have a valid license or whose license status is a mystery to law enforcement."

What's more, last month, you announced that you plan to bring up legislation in support of President Obama's "criminal justice reform" agenda. The National ICE Council, National Sheriff s Association, FBI Agents Association, Association of Assistant United States Attorneys, and many others in law enforcement have already made their opposition to this agenda known. I am concerned that the proposals being discussed could lead to the release of thousands of criminal aliens from prison. These releases will be in addition to the thousands of criminal aliens who are being released into communities from sanctuary jurisdictions across the country every month.
 
As ICE officers sworn to uphold the law and defend the U.S. Constitution, we wish the Speaker of the House would be more vocal in championing an immigration policy that defends the rule of law, and represents the interests of American citizens and lawful residents and protects their safety.
 
Our ICE officers are overwhelmed. Recently, ICE was ranked 314th—or dead last— in morale among 314 federal agencies surveyed by the Office of Personnel Management. While specific members of Congress have been vocal in standing up for our officers and fighting to defend law and order, we have not felt that same support from the Speaker's office. In the nine months that you have served as House Speaker, I am not aware of you holding a single press conference devoted exclusively to addressing this national crisis.

Indeed, we were disheartened to learn that instead, the House Speaker intends to push and fund policies, which we believe would only exacerbate the situation.
 
Respectfully, I request that you immediately bring up legislation to the floor to address this national crisis and keep the American people safe. Our ICE officers have many ideas about the type of legislation necessary to fix the problem, which we expect to be able to discuss with you at long last. I also request that you hold a press conference with the National ICE Council within the next week to advance these goals.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely, 

Chris Crane
President"




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