ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) posted a news release on April 30, 2012 that reported on the arrest of 13 criminal aliens in the Boston area.  These arrests were made under the aegis of “Operation Threats Against the Community” that began on April 26, 2012.  According to the news release, all but 2 of the 13 criminal aliens had multiple criminal convictions for serious or violent offenses.

The news release also included the following statement:

“The results of this targeted enforcement operation underscore ICE’s ongoing commitment to public safety,” said Vincent Archibeque, deputy field office director of ERO Boston. “When we focus on the arrest and removal of convicted criminal aliens we get an immediate payback in our communities. Because of the tireless efforts and teamwork of ICE officers – along with our state and local law enforcement partners – there are 13 fewer criminal aliens in our neighborhoods in Massachusetts.”

While it is significant that 13 criminal aliens were indeed taken off the streets, there are several issues that you should consider.  First, all of these aliens were arrested for violating the administrative provisions of the INA (Immigration and Nationality Act).  Some time ago, Janet Napolitano made light of the immigration laws and of the laws that were violated by aliens who ran our nation’s borders and evaded the inspections process that is designed to prevent the entry of aliens into our country who would pose a threat to the safety and well-being of our citizens and our nation.  She made comments about how simply running our border was not a felony but a violation of administrative law.  Today, ICE touted how those same administrative laws enabled ICE enforcement personnel to take 13 dangerous aliens off or our nation’s streets.  Those laws are, of course highly important.

Secondly, one of the aliens was from Peru, one was from Guatemala and eleven were from the Dominican Republic.  There was no mention as to how any of these aliens had entered the United States or if any of them had been initially admitted lawfully into the United States as either immigrants or nonimmigrants. From my experience as an INS Special Agent, it would be unlikely that aliens from the Dominican Republic would have entered the United States by running the U.S. / Mexican border.  (Violation of our nation’s immigration laws is not limited to our nation’s southern border and is not limited to citizens from Mexico.)

Additionally, there was no mention made as to how aliens could have been convicted on multiple occasions of committing felonies and managed to remain at large.  If any of these aliens fell through gaps in the system and were permitted to be released from custody without ICE taking them into custody, or if ICE took them into custody and then for some reason, engaged in the infamous “Catch and Release” program- then those who subsequently fell victim to those aliens would not have been victimized had those aliens not made their way back into the communities where they committed additional crimes.

Finally, the arrests were made with the assistance of local law enforcement. Time and again, the administration and others claim (falsely) that when local law enforcement cooperates in the enforcement of immigration laws that community policing suffers!  I sincerely doubt that those who live in the communities where these criminal aliens were plying their “trades” will no longer trust the police since they helped ICE take these thugs off the streets!

Once again it is a news release issued by ICE that reinforces an important point–the enforcement of our nation’s immigration laws protect American lives and the lives of all who live, work and visit in the United States.  All that is needed is the political will and integrity to get the job done.