House Judiciary Committee to Hold Oversight Hearing on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Washington, D.C. – On Tuesday, April 14, 2015 at 10:00 a.m., the House Judiciary Committee will hold an oversight hearing on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Director Sarah Saldaña will testify before the Committee regarding the agency’s failure to enforce immigration laws and the release of criminal aliens.

ICE is tasked with enforcing U.S. immigration laws but under the policies implemented by the Obama Administration, the agency has failed to adhere to its mission. Consequently, the removal of unlawful and criminal aliens has plummeted. Most recently, only 102,000 unlawful and criminal aliens apprehended by ICE were removed in Fiscal Year 2014, representing an 18% decrease in criminal alien removals. Additionally, all criminal alien arrests by ICE Enforcement Removal Operations are down by 35% from this time last year. ICE officials also indicate that local jurisdictions have declined to honor approximately 15,000 detainers from January 2014 to March 2015, and as a result, many of these aliens have been released and have gone on to commit more crimes. To make matters worse, ICE released over 36,000 criminal aliens in 2013 and nearly 31,000 in 2014.

ICE’s mission became further compromised as President Obama announced unilateral changes to our immigration system in November 2014, allowing millions of unlawful immigrants to evade immigration enforcement and issuing new, so-called “priorities” for the apprehension, detention, and removal of unlawful and criminal aliens. Under the Obama Administration’s new enforcement priorities, millions of unlawful and criminal aliens who are not even eligible to benefit from the deferred actions programs can simply remain in the U.S. in violation of the law with no fear of immigration enforcement.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) issued the statement below in advance of this hearing.

Chairman Goodlatte: “Over the past six years, President Obama has steadily dismantled the interior enforcement of our nation’s immigration laws. Under the Obama Administration’s watch, the apprehension, detention, and removal of unlawful and criminal aliens has dramatically declined. Altogether, the actions taken by this administration undermine the rule of law, make our communities less safe, and place ICE officers in harm’s way.  As a result, the world now knows that our immigration laws can be violated with impunity. Tomorrow, members of the House Judiciary Committee will examine this administration’s failure to enforce immigration laws within the interior United States and the policies that encourage and reward illegal immigration.” 

This hearing will take place in 2141 Rayburn House Office Building and will be webcast live at judiciary.house.gov.  Camera crews wishing to cover must be congressionally credentialed and RSVP with the House Radio-TV Gallery at (202) 225-5214. 

To learn more about the Obama Administration’s record of lax immigration enforcement, click here.