President Joe Biden’s appointed Department of Homeland Security Secretary has announced recently that the agency will no longer issue fines to illegal immigrants that have refused to depart the United States.
The current administration has referred to fining illegal immigrants who refuse to adhere to deportations orders “as unnecessary punitive measures.”
Biden Stops Fining Illegals Who Do Not Depart U.S., Cancels Their Debt https://t.co/ZAmfiTkQgh
— chuck mc (@chuckmc68515100) April 24, 2021
Back in 2019, the Trump administration managed to attract headlines after illegal immigrants started getting notices sent to them denoting that they’re being fined for their refusal to adhere to deportation orders.
The authority of the Immigration and Nationality Act allowed this practice for decades, but the provision wasn’t being utilized or enforced for some time prior to President Trump’s time in office.
Yet on April 23rd, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced that the agency will no longer be issuing fines to illegal immigrants that blatantly disregard their respective deportation orders.
In a statement addressing and justifying this recent adjustment in agency practices, Mayorkas stated:
“There is no indication that these penalties promoted compliance with noncitizens’ departure obligations. We can enforce our immigration laws without resorting to ineffective and unnecessary punitive measures.”
But the agency isn’t just abandoning the practice of finding illegal immigrants that refuse to self deport, Secretary Mayorkas announced that all previous fines issued under the Trump administration will be forgiven:
“After reviewing detailed data regarding the issuance of such fines since 2018, it was clear to Secretary Mayorkas and Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Tae Johnson that the fines were not effective and had not meaningfully advanced the interests of the agency.
ICE intends to work with the Department of Treasury to cancel the existing debts of those who had been fined.”
The discarding of this practice under the Biden administration is another line-item in a long list of immigration enforcement practices that have been abandoned by the current administration, despite there being concerning issues regarding illegal immigration since the administration came into power.
The Biden administration has announced new guidelines that are expected to sharply limit arrests and deportations carried out by ICE.https://t.co/9tUIHsAaAw
— NPR (@NPR) February 19, 2021
Earlier this year, former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement director Thomas Homan pointed out that, under the current administration, ICE is basically just there for looks and not enforcement:
“The men and women of ICE, they took an oath to enforce immigration laws.
“It’s unfortunate they can’t do the job…And it’s unfortunate that many criminals are going to be walking the streets of America because this administration simply thinks they’re not important enough to take off the streets.”
Earlier in April, Law Enforcement Today shared comments from South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem regarding her stance on illegal immigrants getting into the country’s interior.
Her take on the matter is that she has no intention of welcoming illegal immigrants into her state.
Here’s that previous report.
_
During a recent airing of Fox News Channel’s “Ingraham Angle,” South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem said that if the Biden administration attempts to settle illegal immigrants in her state, those unlawfully present in the country are “not going to find a place here in South Dakota.”
Nope. https://t.co/ax6xAtIrXW
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) April 15, 2021
On April 14th, Governor Noem appeared on the show “Ingraham Angle,” where the show host brought up the topic of illegal immigrants getting placed in states all over the country through enablement efforts from the Biden Administration.
In the South Dakota governor’s response, she proclaimed that there is not going to be any proverbial welcome mat for illegal immigrants in her state:
“[W]hat I have determined by watching the actions of this president is that he is making America unsafe. These are people that are crossing our border illegally.
“We do not know who they are. Multiple news sources have told us that we have people on the terrorist watch list that are getting into this country this way, and they’re not going to find a place here in South Dakota.”
The show host responded to Governor Noem’s comments on the matter, asking whether the federal government is legally compelled to inform state officials when illegal immigrants are essentially going to be bused into their respective state.
Governor Noem responded, noting that traditionally the federal government has extended the courtesy of informing state officials prior to attempting moves of this nature:
“They have in the past always communicated with governors; I wouldn’t put it past this administration to do it very differently or do it in a way that they didn’t have the authority to.
“Listen, from what we’re seeing happen at the southern border and what we’re seeing happen in so many of our cities that this administration isn’t shutting down – it’s dangerous.
It’s dangerous to America, to the people that live here, and it’s going to take governors standing up and setting down the rules on what’s really going to happen in their states.”
The matter of states getting involved in certain aspects of immigration enforcement is dicey territory.
While the meaning of Governor Noem’s comments are clear in that she wants her political colleagues in the state to make it unattractive for illegal immigrants to want to be in her state in the first place, there are swirling complexities regarding how states can deter illegal immigrants from residing in their states.
While Governor Noem’s comments regarding illegal immigrants not finding “a place here in South Dakota,” sounds telling of her feelings on the matter, it is legally murky what at the state level can be done to address illegal immigrants from entering a state.
As evidenced by laws impacting registered sex offenders, individuals can be banished from getting in close proximity to certain designated areas within a state, i.e., schools, playgrounds, and such.
But a complete exile of an individual or class of individuals from a state within the country is also a legally gray area.
_
Want to make sure you never miss a story from Law Enforcement Today? With so much “stuff” happening in the world on social media, it’s easy for things to get lost.
