An August 20, 2010 official memo by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Asst. Secretary John Morton effectively stops certain aliens from being subjected to removal proceedings.

Morton provides the rationale for the policy: “to avoid a major inefficiency in present practice and unnecessary delay and expenditure of resources… As a matter of prosecutorial discretion and to promote the efficient use of government resources, I hereby issue new ICE policy to govern the handling of removal proceedings involving aliens with applications or petitions pending with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).”

Morton goes on to categorize which aliens who should not be subjected to removal (deportation) proceedings.
ICE’s new policy makes a lot of sense.

Background: Annually, the financial and other resources available  allow ICE to remov some 400,000 undocumented aliens. Under the U.S. constitution, aliens alleged to have violated immigration laws have a right to a judicial hearing in immigration court – to present their defenses before they can be removed. That makes sense. What if the person subjected to removal was in fact a U.S. citizen? A fair and proper hearing would prevent mistake removals.

Annually, based on statistical figures, an estimated 17,000 or so of those subjected to removal proceedings have pending petitions and are eligible for Lawful Permanent Resident status. They have U.S. citizens or Lawful Permanent Resident relatives or employers who have filed immigrant petitions for them.
Even if they are detained and subjected to removal proceedings in court – which often involves several court hearings – as a matter of law, they will eventually get relief from the Immigration Judge and acquire lawful Permanent Resident status.

The new ICE policy which Morton detailed is not an accommodation to calls for a more humane alien policy – but plain simple common sense.

Subjecting immigrant visa qualified aliens to detention and removal proceedings which tax the government’s resources and energies is an exercise in futility because Immigration Judges are legally compelled to subsequently grant their immigrant visas. Using the saved resources and energies to prioritize the detention and removal of criminal and undesirable aliens is a smarter policy.

Unfortunately, certain members of American society have eyes that dim,  brains that fossilize and hearts which turn to stone – because of their distorted unproven belief that  undocumented immigrants threaten their families, grab their jobs and go on welfare.

They also forget that all of us in America come from immigrant stock – even those referred to as ‘native Americans” whose forbears migrated from Asia. Immigrants – undocumented or not – give more to the system than they take. The contributions in the arts, sciences and religion of immigrants from all over the world made America the great country that it is. A platitude and a cliché – but nevertheless – true.

These anti-immigrants criticize this new policy even if they do not even know or understand what they are criticizing. If they look at undocumented aliens as no different from them – not see them as demons, but as human beings born under severe conditions of poverty or political oppression, simply wanting a better life for themselves and their families  – perhaps the scales will fall from their eyes and the truth will clear their minds and restore their human hearts.
As usual, manipulating opportunistic politicians feed on prejudices and blindness. So called “conservative” radio or TV commentators and the Republican propaganda machine Fox News fuel anti-immigrant sentiments – giving the impression that this new policy is a form of amnesty. Poor souls. In the next life, they will probably be reincarnated as dwarfs in a world of giants.

An example of how this new policy works: John from Canada entered as a visitor. He overstayed and worked illegally. He subsequently got married to a U.S. citizen. He was caught working illegally when ICE agents went to his place of work looking for another person. He is detained. He and his lawyer explain to ICE agents that they are in the process of filing his wife’s I-130 immigrant visa petition together with the I-485 application for adjustment of status.
Under the old standard procedure policy – John would be detained, forced to pay a substantial bond in order to be released, subjected to removal proceedings and face an immigration judge in court in repeated hearings. While the immigrant visa petition for him is still being processed by USCIS – the judge would keep on continuing his case. When the immigrant visa petition is approved – absent any barring factors like criminal acts or the likelihood of being on welfare – the judge would grant him lawful permanent resident status.

Under the new guidelines, ICE would most likely not subject him to detention and removal proceedings.

ICE would also monitor the progress of the processing of the I-130 petition with USCIS under the new policy guidelines to ensure efficiency.
The new policy thus avoids unnecessary detention and lengthy expensive court proceedings which benefits  the government and fosters a more humane treatment of non-American born human beings – even if that is not the purpose of the policy.