Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Michael Sam


Report: Thousands of convicted criminals freed while awaiting deportation proceedings


The Obama administration released thousands of convicted criminals -- including murderers and those convicted of sexual assault -- while they were awaiting deportation proceedings, according to a new report. 
The Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington-based advocacy group, released the statistics on Monday, in its latest bid to draw attention to what analysts with the organization say are lax enforcement practices by the Obama administration. 
The numbers showed that in 2013, Immigration and Customs Enforcement released 36,007 "convicted criminal aliens" while they were waiting for the outcome of their deportation cases. They represented a total of 88,000 convictions. 
The majority of the cases involved individuals convicted on lower-level or nonviolent offenses, like auto theft, drunk-driving and drug charges. But many were involved in more serious cases.   
According to the report, the 88,000 convictions included: 
-- 193 homicide convictions 
-- 426 sexual assault convictions 
-- 303 kidnapping convictions 
-- More than 1,000 aggravated assault convictions 
Jessica Vaughan, the group's director of policy studies, said in a statement she was "astonished" by the figures. Referring to an ongoing Department of Homeland Security review of deportation policies, she said any "further relaxation of enforcement" would be "hard to justify" in light of the statistics. 
"Congress should resist further action on immigration reform until the public can be assured that enforcement is more robust and that ICE can better deal with its criminal alien caseload without setting them free in our communities," she added. 
ICE defended its enforcement practices when asked about the report, and said in a statement that many of those cited were released "under restrictions such as GPS monitoring, telephone monitoring, supervision, or surety bond."
Further, the statement said the agency was required by law to release some of those individuals.
"The releases required by court decisions account for a disproportionate number of the serious crimes listed in the report.  For example, mandatory releases account for over 75% of the homicides listed," ICE said.

The individuals in question were reportedly released on bond or on parole or under various other alternatives to detention while awaiting processing. 

The same organization that published the data put out a separate report more than a month ago that showed ICE agents were opting not to deport thousands of "criminal aliens." These are separate from the cases detailed in the latest study. 
According to that prior report, ICE released 68,000 foreign nationals in 2013 who either had criminal convictions or charges against them. 
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, though, accused CIS of distorting the numbers, and claimed that some of them could represent minor offenses. Further, the agency said a total of 216,000 "convicted criminals" were removed in 2013.

Geithner, in memoir, suggests White House asked him to bend truth on deficit


Former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner claims in his new book that the White House on more than one occasion tried to put words in his mouth or outright asked him to bend the truth. 
In his memoir, "Stress Test: Reflections on Financial Crises," Geithner recalls a Sunday talk show prep session in 2011 during which top White House adviser Dan Pfeiffer wanted him to say Social Security "didn't contribute" to the federal deficit. Geithner wrote that he objected. 
"It wasn't a main driver of our future deficits, but it did contribute," Geithner wrote, explaining his own reasoning. "Pfeiffer said the line was a 'dog whistle' to the left, a phrase I had never heard before. He had to explain that the phrase was code to the Democratic base, signaling that we intended to protect Social Security." 
After the anecdote began to generate attention on Monday, a source close to Geithner clarified to Fox News that the former secretary "does not believe he was encouraged to go out and mislead the public on the Sunday shows." 
The source said all the former secretary was trying to get across was that Pfeiffer wanted him to "send a signal" to liberals about the president's commitment to not allowing major cuts to Social Security. 
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney also defended Pfeiffer, reiterating the White House position that Social Security is not the "main driver" of the deficit, when compared with health care-related entitlement programs. "That, I'm sure, is the point that Dan was making," Carney said. 
Still, the episode and others in the 544-page book, in stores Monday, provide a glimpse into how the White House screens and provides information to the public -- particularly following revelations about White House involvement in a "prep call" for then-U.N. ambassador Susan Rice's controversial appearance on Sunday shows after the 2012 Benghazi attacks. 
Geithner also recalled an incident in January 2009, having been on the job as secretary for less than a week, in which he rejected what a Democratic strategist wanted him to say at an Oval Office press event. 
"I was supposed to have my first one-on-one meeting with President Obama," Geithner wrote. "As I was about to walk into the Oval Office, Stephanie Cutter, a veteran Democratic operative who was handling our communications strategy, told me we would have a 'pool spray,' a photo opportunity for the White House press. 
"The president and I would make brief remarks about executive compensation, responding to a report that Wall Street firms had paid their executives big bonuses while piling up record losses in 2008. 'Here's what you're going to say,' Cutter said." 
Geithner wrote that Cutter handed him the text, and he "skimmed the outrage I was expected to express." 
He wrote: "I'm not very convincing as an angry populist, and I thought the artifice would look ridiculous." 
According to his memoir, he told Cutter he wouldn't do it. 
"Instead, I sat uncomfortably next to the president while he expressed outrage. Americans were furious about bailouts for overpaid bankers, and the White House political team wanted us to show we were on the right side of the backlash," he wrote. "The public outrage was appropriate ... but I didn't see how we could ever satisfy it. We had no legal authority to confiscate the bonuses that had been paid during the boom."

CartoonsTrashyDemsRinos