{"id":21304,"date":"2019-03-28T07:30:55","date_gmt":"2019-03-28T11:30:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/live-immigrationreform.pantheonsite.io\/?p=21304"},"modified":"2019-03-28T07:30:58","modified_gmt":"2019-03-28T11:30:58","slug":"ice-chief-we-cannot-secure-the-border-in-a-meaningful-way-immigrationreform-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2019\/03\/28\/ice-chief-we-cannot-secure-the-border-in-a-meaningful-way-immigrationreform-com\/","title":{"rendered":"ICE Chief: \u2018We Cannot Secure the Border in a Meaningful Way\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

With much angst on display, a national Border Security Expo<\/a> didn\u2019t offer much sense of security this week in San Antonio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the keynote speaker, acting U.S.\nImmigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) director Ronald Vitiello, to\nlower-level functionaries at ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP),\nthe official line was decidedly downbeat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe cannot secure the border in a meaningful\nway under the current system,\u201d Vitiello told reporters. \u201cIt\u2019s an unmitigated\ncrisis.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As record waves<\/a> of \u201cfamily units\u201d and asylum seekers come to the U.S., Vitiello said 108,500 illegal aliens<\/a> were released into the country in the past 90 days. More are expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CBP is now unilaterally freeing migrants<\/a> with notices to appear for immigration hearings at some future date. Normally, migrants apprehended by CBP would be turned over to ICE for processing and supervision, until immigration hearings can be conducted.\u00a0 However, bypassing ICE involvement renders adjudication of immigration claims and the enforcement of any subsequent orders significantly \u00a0less likely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Citing \u201cstrain on the mission\u201d and\n\u201cdegradation\u201d of resources, a weary Vitiello said the situation at the border\n\u201cis not sustainable. I don\u2019t know how much longer we can do it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the eve of the Expo, CBP reported that a\ntractor trailer carrying 15 smuggled Chinese nationals got halfway to San\nAntonio before it was stopped at a checkpoint. \u201cWe might have caught them at\nthe border if there weren\u2019t so many other distractions,\u201d Vitiello told a press\nbriefing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A glimmer of good news came from Washington, where the Pentagon announced it would redirect $3.6 billion<\/a> from the military\u2019s construction budget toward building the border wall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curiously, that move didn\u2019t rate a mention at\nthe Expo. An ICE spokeswoman told FAIR the agency had no comment on the funding,\nwhich, when combined with the modest $1.3 billion Congress approved last month,\ngets closer to the $8.6 billion sought by President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With 34 years at CBP and ICE, Vitiello is still\nawaiting Senate confirmation to his post while he witnesses a U.S.-Mexico\nborder descending into chaos. Pointing to continued political gridlock on\nCapitol Hill and legal gamesmanship in the courts, he said America is\n\u201cencouraging\u201d more Central Americans to make the perilous journey north. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Migrants who successfully navigate the\ndangerous terrain and elude the predatory cartels en route figure they have a\ngood shot at getting securely into this country. According to our beleaguered\nborder enforcers, they\u2019re not wrong. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With much angst on display, a national Border Security Expo didn\u2019t offer much sense of security this week in San Antonio. From the keynote speaker, acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) director Ronald Vitiello, to lower-level functionaries at ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the official line was decidedly downbeat. \u201cWe cannot<\/p>\n

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