John Morton of DHS/ICE

Discussed in (click each link for the full post):

DOJ investigation claims Sheriff Joe Arpaio engaged in "unconstitutional policing" (immigration, Arizona, Maricopa County) - 12/15/11

... DOJ's report...'' said ICE head John Morton. Note that, in January 2010, Morton defended Arpaio against claims of racial profiling.

DHS makes Secure Communities nationwide, no opt-out (so far). Lofgren, ACLU, NAKASEC, FIRM, CHIRLA, ICIRR, MIRA, Frank Sharry, NIF outraged. - 08/08/11

... the letter, which was signed by John Morton, director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Governors in the other 11 states had not signed agreements. What that means is that Secure Communities will be a nationwide program, with no chance to opt-out as various localities have tried to do via the agreements ("Memorandums of Agreement", MOAs) mentioned above. Needless to say, this has provoked...

DHS officials misled about backdoor amnesty for illegal aliens (Houston, John Morton) - 06/27/11

... the continued involvement of John Morton in attempts to give illegal aliens a backdoor amnesty.

DHS revises Secure Communities to enable illegal immigration (John Morton, ACLU, CHIRLA, NDLON, NIF, AILA, NYT, Ammiano) - 06/20/11

... partly succeeded as ICE chief John Morton announced changes to that program. Those changes will reinforce the message that the Obama administration has been sending for years: illegal aliens who don't commit major crimes get to stay (see Obama immigration, Janet Napolitano, and the preceding links). Several far-left illegal immigration supporters still aren't satisfied; see their reactions below...

Senators: ICE doing selective enforcement, not asking for more resources - 10/27/10

... Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director (John Morton) to all ICE attorneys to review pending cases and seek dismissal if the cases do not involve [serious] offenders... Though the reports focused only on cases pending before Houston immigration judges, our understanding is that the ICE directive applies nationwide. Numerous criminal aliens are being released into society and are having proceedings...

New DHS policies are de facto amnesty; John Morton thinks ICE has enough money - 09/10/10

... Enforcement agency headed by John Morton - has instituted new policies that amount to a form of a de facto amnesty. And, all of this has been done without anywhere near the outcry that would occur from an amnesty proposal in Congress. Granted, these policies don't include a "pathway to citizenship" and the other perks that would be included in comprehensive immigration reform. However, they'll...

DHS letting deportable illegal aliens go if they could get green card (John Morton) - 08/27/10

... was disclosed via a memo from John Morton, head of ICE; in the memo he wrote: "Where there is an underlying application or petition and ICE determines . . . that a non-detained individual appears eligible for relief from removal, [its attorneys] should promptly move to dismiss proceedings." The new policy is cheered in the article by Cheryl Little of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center. In the...

John Morton of ICE misleads, says he and Obama don't support amnesty - 08/12/10

Back in 2007, former Department of Homeland Security secretary Michael Chertoff said that the DHS wasn't "in the business of doing amnesty". Now, the head of the DHS' Immigrations and Custom Enforcement ("ICE") is making similarly false claims.

ICE memo: deport the criminals first. Will they greatly reduce deporting non-criminals? - 08/09/10

... memo from Assistant Secretary John Morton, who heads the agency, to all ICE employees regarding the apprehension, detention and removal of illegal immigrants, noting that the agency "only has resources to remove approximately 400,000 aliens per year, less than 4 percent of the estimated illegal-alien population in the United States." ...More than a dozen veteran ICE agents told The Washington...

ICE refusing to deport illegal alien students (John Morton, DREAM Act) - 08/09/10

... crimes in the neighborhood," John Morton, the head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said in an interview. "As opposed to someone who came to this country as a juvenile and spent the vast majority of their life here." The article also claims that there are 700,000 illegal aliens who'd be covered by the DREAM Act, an amnesty that would allow current or former illegal aliens to take college...

ICE agents issue "Vote of No Confidence" on John Morton, Phyllis Coven (politicizing ICE, pushing amnesty) - 08/06/10

... NO CONFIDENCE IN ICE DIRECTOR JOHN MORTON AND ODPP ASSISTANT DIRECTOR PHYLLIS COVEN" on June 11, 2010. The letter, acquired through sources, provides a litany of examples of how ICE's mission is being skewed towards supporting an unflinching goal of amnesty by refusing to allow agents to do their job; allowing criminal aliens to roam free; depleting resources for key enforcement initiatives that...

Harold Hurtt - now local coordinator for ICE - is strong sanctuary city supporter - 06/25/10

... support. At the link, ICE chief John Morton praises him, and it's pointed out that he supports the jail-side part of 287g, even if he doesn't support the sweeps part (as practiced by Joe Arpaio). Hurtt was mentioned here in 2005's "Houston reaffirms illegal aliens sanctuary policy". As I said in that post, 9/11 Commission member John Lehman said in 2004: "The terrorists know" which cities have...

John Morton of ICE: let illegal alien crime suspects go free pending conviction? - 06/22/10

John Morton - head of ICE, part of the Department of Homeland Security - has changed the name of "Detention and Removal Operations" into "Enforcement and Removal Operations", de-emphasizing the detention part of that operation. And, per Debbie Schlussel (link), he's gone even further: apparently requiring that illegal aliens suspected of crimes be set free pending a conviction. Of course, the...

John Morton: ICE might not process illegal aliens arrested under Arizona immigration law - 05/20/10

John Morton, the Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary who heads ICE, visited Chicago yesterday and promised to ramp up immigration enforcement. Then, he said this (link): Echoing comments by President Barack Obama and others in the administration, Morton said that Arizona's new law targeting illegal immigration is not "good government." The law makes it a crime to be in the state...

Far-left wants John Morton fired over immigration quotas memo (also want little or no enforcement) - 03/31/10

... the Obama Administration fire John Morton, the head of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) within the Department of Homeland Security. Deepak Bhargava of the (Center for Community Change), a lead organizer of the immigration rally in Washington, D.C. on March 21st and a leader of FIRM (Fair Immigration Reform Movement), had this to say at today’s press conference: "This agency has...

ICE walks back from memo setting deportation quotas; "inconsistent with the administration's point of view" - 03/31/10

A few days ago, Spencer Hsu and Andrew Becker of the Washington Post offered "ICE officials set quotas to deport more illegal immigrants" (link):

John Morton immigration detention reforms: scaling it back - 01/26/10

John Morton of the Department of Homeland Security spoke at the Migration Policy Institute yesterday about reforms he's making concerning immigration detention. The Immigration Policy Center has a report here, and their summary of his upcoming reforms includes: * [...centralizing] facilities [which] would be managed at the top by federal employees subject to clear, transparent, and fully...

DHS' Morton: defends 287g program; defends Arpaio against claims of racial profiling - 01/21/10

... during the booking process. But John Morton, the assistant secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (of the Department of Homeland Security), said that is "not in practice what we have seen in the program" known as 287 (g). Furthermore, he said that while the agency places a priority on arresting illegal immigrants who commit serious crimes, it also cannot turn "a blind eye to people...

Pilgrim's Pride slapped on wrist; won't be prosecuted for hiring illegal aliens - 12/30/09

... work in the United States," said John Morton, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for ICE. "This settlement acknowledges that Pilgrim's Pride is committed to adopting a rigorous immigration compliance program." For the backstory, see the other entries on the Pilgrims Pride page.

Devin Dwyer of ABC News promotes anti-American bill; would deprive some U.S. students of college - 12/16/09

Devin Dwyer of ABC News offers the four-screen "Legal Limbo: Undocumented Students Eager for Congress to Act" [1] in which he promotes an anti-American bill that would prevent some U.S. students from attending college. If you trust Dwyer's reporting, please visit these two links: * DREAM Act describes the bill in question and the impact that it would have. * PIIPP features our multi-year coverage...

DHS revising rules on immigration detention; some actions might be OK, but motives questionable - 10/06/09

... facilities to house detainees, said John Morton, assistant secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ...This fall, ICE will submit to Congress a nationwide implementation plan for creating alternatives to detention where appropriate, such as using monitoring devices on aliens who don't pose a threat to others. ...Napolitano and Morton said they were immediately pursuing plans to develop...

DHS restricts Joe Arpaio 287g enforcement to jails; Arpaio pledges to continue sweeps - 10/05/09

UPDATES AT END OF POST On Friday, Maricopa County, Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio signed a new agreement with the Department of Homeland Security that restricts his ability to perform immigration enforcement under the 287g program (link). Under the previous agreement, he could both check immigration status in county jails and also conduct street sweeps; the new agreement seeks to restrict him to the...