New Biden Policy Instructs ICE Officers to Censor Arrest Reports

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officer told Breitbart that officers are being instructed to censor reports surrounding the incarceration of criminal aliens.

An email from the Acting Assistant Director of ICE ERO instructs officers to redact information prior to submission to Immigration Courts or the public. The anonymous source believes “the instructions are designed to hide the full truth when criminal aliens are released instead of deported and then commit subsequent crimes.”

According to the source, officers have never been told to withhold decision information in an arrest report until now. The email states “As information related to enforcement priority determinations may not be final at the time a case is processed and may further develop over time, please do not include this information in the I-213 narrative. When this information is included in the I-213 please be aware of the need to redact that information when it is filed with EOIR/Immigration Judges or turned over in FOIA requests.”

This is yet another move by the Biden administration that keeps agencies from doing their job and places the safety of the American public on the backburner. Acting ICE Director Tae Johnson circulated a memo in February detailing new restrictions for officers. The new policy essentially stated that ICE can only arrest criminal aliens who are actually in the custody of authorities (inmates), and if the alien is released due to sanctuary policies, ICE officers must submit a request to arrest to be approved by Johnson.

This policy created a significant administrative burden for ICE officers. According to ICE statistics, less than a third of those arrested by ICE in FY2020 would qualify for arrest and removal under President Biden.

With this latest censorship, not only are ICE officers essentially handcuffed, but now, the Biden administration is actively trying to hide whether an illegal alien has committed or is suspected of committing serious crimes from the general public and other law enforcement agencies, including the ICE officers themselves. The arrest report will not detail all the facts at the time of arrest, causing significant hindrances if the arresting officer is required to testify. Additionally, this is not a privilege granted to American citizens. Every day, somewhere in the media, there is a photo of someone with a listing of all the crimes they are accused of committing. There is no rational decision for this policy change other than to protect the false narrative that illegal aliens rarely commit criminal acts.

As the current crisis rages on, the administration should be looking for ways to improve immigration enforcement operations. Instead, they deny their role in creating the crisis – and its existence altogether – and are focused on restricting the enforcement agencies that are meant to safeguard the American people.