While Rep. Tom Rooney's bill requiring removal of criminal illegal aliens languishes in Congress, federal authorities refused to take custody of an estimated 300,000 deportable immigrants.
A House subcommittee subpoenaed the Department of Homeland Security last Friday for the names of the unaccounted-for illegal aliens accused of "low-level" crimes during the past three years.
Homeland Security officials contested the panel's conclusions about the number of individuals slipping through the cracks, but admitted the department does not keep statistics on crimes committed by released immigrants.
Under the federal Secure Communities program, nearly 1,600 local and state jurisdictions send fingerprint information on inmates to the agency's Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which determines whether the detainees are illegally in the United States, CNN reported.
"The American people have a right to know what crimes 300,000 immigrants have committed after ICE intentionally chose not to detain them," said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas.
"Are administration officials afraid that the information will show that illegal immigrants intentionally released by ICE have committed crimes that could have been prevented? Why else would they hide the information?"
Smith also said Homeland Security has declined to explain what crimes are considered "low-level."
Rooney, a former member of the Judiciary Committee, told Sunshine State News:
We need detailed records from Homeland Security on illegal immigrants who were arrested, reported to federal authorities, and then allowed to walk freely back onto our streets.That should not happen.
"If youre here illegally and you commit a crime, you should serve your sentence and then go straight back to your home country."
Rooney, R-Tequesta, said his proposed legislation, the Criminal Alien Removal Act, would require Homeland Security to ensure that criminal aliens are removed from the United States upon release from incarceration.
"As we learn more and more about the number of criminal aliens slipping through the cracks, I hope Congress will move forward with my bill," the congressman said.
The subpoena by the House Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Reform seeks the names, alien registration numbers and other information on all illegal immigrants ICE was notified about between Nov. 1, 2008 and Oct. 31, 2011, but did not detain. It also asks for information about immigrants ICE declined to deport, CNN reported.
The subpoena comes after the Obama administration bragged that it had deported a record 392,000 illegal immigrants since 2009.
During that same period, however, unexecuted deportation orders have increased from 558,000 to 1.1 million, according to statistics compiled by the Center for Immigration Studies.
From 1996 through 2009, 40 percent of all illegal aliens the U.S. allowed to remain free pending trial -- 770,000 out of 1.9 million -- vanished before their hearings, the conservative Washington, D.C.-based think tank calculated.
Last month, U.S. Rep. Sandy Adams, R-Orlando, grilled Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on revelations that her agency was releasing criminal illegal aliens into the U.S. population and taking no action against countries that refuse their deportation.
Adams, a member of the Judiciary Committee, praised Smith for issuing the subpoenas.
Given the seriousness of this matter, it shouldnt take such drastic measures to get this information. The safety of our communities is at stake and Americans deserve answers.
"In the age of Solyndra and Fast and Furious, it is Congresss duty to demand transparency and accountability from this administration, Adams said.
Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 801-5341.
