FAIR Blasts Appointment of Sanctuary City Advocate to Become ICE’s Top Prosecutor

In a letter on behalf of millions of concerned citizens who make up the organization, FAIR President Dan Stein recently wrote in strong opposition to the appointment of Kerry Doyle to become U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Principal Legal Advisor. Doyle assumed the position in late September, shortly before the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) directed ICE to protect nearly all illegal aliens from removal.

Principal Legal Advisor is a critical role at the nation’s immigration enforcement agency, overseeing 25 field locations and 1,250 attorneys. The office represents ICE in all removal proceedings and litigates cases against illegal aliens, criminals, terrorists, and other aliens who otherwise pose national security or public safety threats to the United States. The position demands someone who is committed to immigration enforcement and the rule of law.

“The person in this position must be an impartial public servant who can properly balance competing priorities in the public sphere, possessing no experience in aggressive, ideological advocacy,” Stein charged. “Instead, [Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas] appointed an immigration attorney who supports open-borders policies and is openly hostile to the core functions of the office she will lead.”

Doyle is an immigration attorney and mass immigration activist out of Boston, Massachusetts who famously co-filed the lawsuit against the Trump administration’s travel ban in 2017 that barred immigration from a handful of risky nations.

She also advocated for a Massachusetts bill that restricted state and local law enforcement cooperation with ICE. In this push, she argued that ICE was “out of control,” for enforcing immigration laws. The measure would have applied sanctuary city laws statewide and sharply limited the state’s cooperation with the federal government on the deportation of illegal aliens, including criminals. Additionally, she represented illegal aliens with criminal convictions in a variety of cases.

“While these are only a handful of alarming examples of her work, it is clear that Kerry Doyle is the wrong person for the position at the worst possible time,” Stein added. “Please re-think this decision and instead focus your efforts on addressing the border crisis and enforcing our laws.”

Full text of the letter is below:

September 29, 2021

The Honorable Alejandro Mayorkas

Secretary of Homeland Security

Washington, D.C. 20528

Dear Secretary Mayorkas,

On behalf of millions of concerned citizens who make up the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), I write to express our strong opposition to the appointment of Kerry Doyle to become U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Principal Legal Advisor.

Additionally, we urge you to re-examine all immigration agency appointments given the failure of this administration to prevent or resolve the self-inflicted crisis on the southern border. Political appointees and the policies they implement are to blame for what is happening at the border. This begins and ends with you. 

As you know, Principal Legal Advisor is a critical role at ICE, overseeing 25 field locations and 1,250 attorneys. The office represents ICE in all removal proceedings and litigates cases against illegal aliens, criminals, terrorists, and other aliens who otherwise pose national security or public safety threats to the United States. The Principal Legal Advisor position requires an unwavering commitment to immigration enforcement and the rule of law in order to keep our communities safe and preserve the integrity of the system. The person in this position must be an impartial public servant who can properly balance competing priorities in the public sphere, possessing no experience in aggressive, ideological advocacy. Instead, you appointed an immigration attorney who supports open-borders policies and is openly hostile to the core functions of the office she will lead.

Ms. Doyle worked as a co-counsel in the litigation that demanded— and won — a temporary restraining order against the government’s necessary travel ban in 2017. Later, in early 2020, she advocated for a Massachusetts bill that restricted state and local law enforcement cooperation with ICE. In this push, she argued that ICE was “out of control,” for enforcing immigration laws against removable aliens in the United States. The measure would have applied sanctuary city laws statewide and sharply limited the state’s cooperation with the federal government on the deportation of illegal aliens, including criminals. She also represented illegal aliens with criminal convictions, and recently filed a petition with the ACLU to release criminal aliens on the basis of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While these are only a handful of alarming examples of her work, it is clear that Kerry Doyle is the wrong person for the position at the worst possible time. Please re-think this decision and instead focus your efforts on addressing the border crisis and enforcing our laws.

Sincerely,

Dan Stein

President

Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)