ICE Leadership Under Fire from their Union -- Where is the Mainstream Media Coverage?

Leadership of the Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency are under fire from their union members as reported in the Washington Times on Monday:

Washington Times reported on Monday about the union resolution endorsed unanimously by the union council members of ICE:

The National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 7,000 ICE agents and employees, voted 259-0 for a resolution saying there was "growing dissatisfaction and concern" over the leadership of Assistant Secretary John Morton, who heads ICE, and Phyllis Coven, assistant director for the agency's office of detention policy and planning.

The resolution said ICE leadership had "abandoned the agency's core mission of enforcing U.S. immigration laws and providing for public safety," instead directing its attention "to campaigning for programs and policies related to amnesty and the creation of a special detention system for foreign nationals that exceeds the care and services provided to most U.S. citizens similarly incarcerated.

"It is the desire of our union … to publicly separate ourselves from the actions of Director Morton and Assistant Director Coven and publicly state that ICE officers and employees do not support Morton or Coven or their misguided and reckless initiatives, which could ultimately put many in America at risk," the union said.

Those are pretty powerful statements right there where the union is charging the leadership of ICE with putting Americans at risk with their initiatives.

This morning on the Powerline blog, they asked the question about whether the mainstream media was picking up this story. All we could find in searching was Fox News blog and Kansas City Star and Wichita Eagle newspaper blogs carried the story. We are would think there would be a lot more mainstream media coverage including by the alphabet networks, but so far have not been able to find any. What if this had happened during the Bush Administration? Bet it would have been breaking news. If the mainstream media is going to cover up something like this, what else are they covering up?

After reading the two articles, you understand what the border states are facing from the Obama Administration and why it is so important for them to act as a state to protect their citizens because ICE and the Obama Administration have no intention of doing their job. With Obama, criminals who are here illegally are arrested, deported, and come right back like a revolving door to repeat the process all over again. To top it off, this Administration claims to have deported more illegals than the Bush Administration in many instances counting the same criminals over and over again. When we lived in Texas it was a joke that someone would be deported and would be back across the border before nightfall. That was during the Clinton years. See a pattern developing?

These statements in the resolution say all you need to know about the agenda of this Administration and it is not protecting public safety or members of ICE. Frankly, the leadership of ICE seems to care more about illegals and how they are handled than the fact they are putting American citizens and their own agents at risk. This is just more of the radical idea people who Obama has appointed to various positions in the Government.

The union denounced John Morton, who heads ICE, and Phyllis Coven, assistant director for the agency's office of detention policy and planning. It stated that the integrity of the agency "as well as the public safety" would be "better provided for in the absence of Director Morton and Assistant Director Coven."

Among the other points unanimously agreed to are these:

• The majority of ICE's enforcement and removal officers are prohibited from making street arrests or enforcing U.S. immigration laws outside of the jail setting.

• Hundreds of ICE officers nationwide perform no law enforcement duties whatsoever because of resource mismanagement within the agency.

• ICE detention reforms have transformed into a detention system aimed at providing resortlike living conditions to criminal aliens based on recommendations not from ICE officers and field managers, but from "special-interest groups."

• The lack of technical expertise and field experience has resulted in a priority of providing bingo nights, dance lessons and hanging plants to criminals, instead of addressing safe and responsible detention reforms for noncriminal individuals and families.

• Unlike any other agency in the nation, ICE officers will be prevented from searching detainees housed in ICE facilities, allowing weapons, drugs and other contraband into detention centers -- putting detainees, ICE officers and contract guards at risk.

• Senior leadership ignores reports that ICE internal investigations by the office of professional responsibility conceal agency and supervisor misconduct and are used to retaliate against employees who make whistleblower-type disclosures or question inappropriate policies and procedures.

When we were in El Paso during the Sun Bowl, we saw first hand the tall fences with concertina wire, the numerous border patrol stations, and the lighting at night to make sure people didn't cross over from Juarez illegally and bring their crime once again to El Paso. Every place we went, we saw Border Patrol agents who were highly visible. What has that accomplished? El Paso does not have the violent crime in the city from the drug cartels that they did before the fence. Yet the Democrats are in no hurry to complete the fence except to give their rhetoric before an election.

The agenda and actions of the two Obama appointees speak much louder than any rhetoric of Democrats trying to save their seats in November who will say and do anything to get re-elected in November. It is up to "We The People" to call them on their lies and defeat them on November 2nd.

One of the first items in January with the new Congress should be to take a good look at the leadership of ICE and their agenda and move forward with the original plans to secure our border which were in place before Obama took office. Our border states need protected by our Federal Government not sued by the Obama Administration for wanting to protect their citizens.