House Judiciary Committee Examines Perilous State of Interior Immigration Enforcement

By CIS on February 12, 2015

Washington, D.C. (February 11, 2015) - A Center for Immigration Studies fellow and Board member testified before the House Judiciary Committee today. They focused on the dismal state of interior immigration enforcement in the United States and the frustration of the African American community in competing with immigrant worker privilege.

View Center Fellow Dan Cadman's written testimony.

View Center Board Member Frank Morris' written Testimony.

Fellow Dan Cadman’s testimony emphasizes the important link between effective immigration enforcement, public safety, and the plight of the middle class. Emphasizing public safety, Cadman addresses the misuse of prosecutorial discretion, the ending of the use of detainers, and the recent dismantling of the effective Secure Communities program – all moves which have caused incalculable damage to law enforcement’s ability to find, hold, and deport criminal aliens.

“There are many reasons to believe that the rise in criminal alien removals was directly related to a robust Secure Communities program and effective use of detainers, and that the decline in those numbers we are now witnessing is the result of policies initially designed to inhibit , and now to end them entirely,” writes Cadman.

Former Executive Director of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and Board Member of the Center for Immigration Studies, Frank Morris PhD testified, “Vulnerable low-skilled workers who are disproportionally African American are denied access to jobs that should be available to them but are not, because American laws are not adequately enforced, especially in the interior of the United States.”

Morris compared the treatment of tens of millions of Americans, who face lifelong socioeconomic challenges due to their involvement with the criminal justice system, to the treatment of illegal immigrant workers, gang members, and illegal alien parents who are able to evade the legal consequences of their actions.