Gee, do you think this was a political move?
House Republicans grilled the Obama administration’s top immigration official on Tuesday for releasing more than 2,000 illegal immigrants from detention facilities.
From the testimony today on Capitol Hill, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton admitted that by releasing 4 aggravated illegal immigrant felons the agency was only saving $600 per day – while criminals roamed the street. Morton also said 30% of the over 2,000 illegals (around 600) released last month had prior records.
Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) blasted Director Morton today in committee.
The Hill has more on the hearing:
The administration has said ICE released illegal immigrants who posed the lowest level of risk to the public.
Of the 2,228 illegal immigrants released last month, Morton said 70 percent did not have any prior criminal records and 20 percent had convictions for one or two misdemeanors.
Morton said on Tuesday that ICE had released “many” illegal immigrants who had drunk driving records, but only eight Level-1 criminal offenders, the most severe level of aggravated felons, had been released. Morton said four of those serious criminals had been subsequently detained again, because officials realized they had made a mistake in releasing them.
Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) focused in on the Level-1 criminal offenders who were released last month, saying that they are a serious danger to the American public.
“I’ve counted six times you have said you didn’t want to rob Peter to pay Paul. I don’t want Peter or Paul to rob one of our fellow citizens because you guessed wrong on who to release,” said Gowdy.
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