(Breitbart) – Texas Sheriffs, the Lieutenant
Governor, and experts in immigration related issues met at the
State Capitol on Wednesday to discuss the federal government’s
creation of a sanctuary state for criminal aliens through its Priority
Enforcement Program (PEP).
Jackson County Sheriff Aj (Andy)
Louderback, immediate past president of the Sheriff’s Association of Texas,
told Breitbart Texas that the federal government’s PEP program “has created a
sanctuary state for criminal aliens because it has gutted the immigration
system.”
A press conference was held on the crisis
facing Texas that was created by the new immigration policies of the federal
government. The sheriffs complained that aliens are being brought into the
criminal justice system in Texas but are being released into the community
because of the federal policies.
In the past, ICE (Immigration and Customs
Enforcement) could place a 48-hour hold on illegal immigrants when they were
wanted on immigration related issues. The PEP program replaced the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Secure Communities plan and now that is
no longer possible.
The policy was released by Department of Homeland
Security Secretary Jeh Johnson in November, 2014. In January, the program went
into effect and Breitbart Texas Managing Director Brandon
Darby exclusively reported leaked training documents detailing how
the program would be implemented. Darby dubbed the program, “Catch and Release
2.0.”
Breitbart Texas has reported many examples of
criminal illegal aliens who have been previously deported many times only to
come back and commit even more serious crimes.
In July, Breitbart California’s Michelle Moons reported on
the murder of Katheryn Seinle. She was killed by an illegal alien who was
released by the San Francisco sheriff despite an ICE detainer in effect. Her
killer had been deported several times.
The same week as Seinle’s murder,
Darby reported on the murder in Laredo, Texas, of a woman who was
killed by her criminal illegal alien husband. He had been deported four
times. Despite numerous domestic violence calls to the Laredo Police
Department, he was allowed to remain in Laredo until he finally killed her.
There have been many other such reports in the
past month about violent criminal illegal aliens who commit more heinous crimes
after returning from being deported.
The lieutenant governor, Texas sheriffs, and
the director of policy studies for the Center for Immigration Studies spoke at
the press conference in Austin, Texas. Their message – the federal government
has placed the public in danger through its policies, and these policies have
essentially tied the hands of Texas law enforcement.
Sheriff Louderback told Breitbart Texas, “This
federal program (PEP) replaced a Congress-mandated program and replaced it with
a program that now prioritizes criminal behavior and is excluding thousands of
criminal aliens.” He says the program is forcing Texas sheriffs to sometimes
release even violent offenders.
Louderback said that criminal aliens know
that law enforcement officials in Texas have their hands tied because of these
new federal policies. They know they can come into the country illegally and
stay here with impunity.
He said illegal aliens cannot be held until
after there is a final conviction. He said, “These criminals bond out and
disappear into the country.”
These policies, say the immediate past
sheriff’s association president, “mean that local jurisdictions have to deal
with the costs.”
Victoria County Sheriff Michael O’Connor said
criminal aliens are traversing over the border and coming in throughout the
country. He said that the sheriffs intend to “connect, communicate, and
collaborate with community stakeholders” to deal with the problem.
Victoria County, Texas, is located about
halfway between Houston and the Mexico/Texas border. He said his county is
a “fatal tunnel between Harris County and the rest of the U.S.”
Sheriff Hawthorne told Breitbart Texas, “This
is about a secure community program.” He said in 2008, law enforcement were
able to do that. He said, “PEP is, and will be, a failure by this [federal]
administration.”
Lt. Gov. Patrick promised that the senate
would pass legislation to deal with the problems of sanctuary cities in the
next legislative session. He said that he was confident that the senate now has
the votes to deal with this issue. Sanctuary cities legislation was a
contentious topic in the senate this past session.
Louderback spent 20 weeks in Austin during the
2015 legislative session in the Lone Star state and will be heading up
legislative duties for the sheriff’s association.
http://www.teaparty.org/texas-sheriffs-criminal-aliens-free-rein-obamas-policies-111727/
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