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We’re in possession of a memo written by one of the top immigration enforcement officials in the nation, , Director of Investigations for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) a/k/a “Peppermint Patty.”
We find the memo (which we’d post, but the typeface on our copy is too light to be readable online)–regarding calls to assist in the arrest of illegal aliens–to be a band-aid memo. And too little, too late. The memo, dated May 16, is not dated May 16, 2003 or even May 16, 2004. Nope. It’s dated May 16, 2006. So we’d like to ask Peppermint Patty:

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?

And why can’t you call them what they are–“ILLEGAL aliens”? Here’s some of the memo:

This memorandum will serve as guidance to all Office of Investigations (OI) personnel on reponse to calls for service involving undocumented alien(s).

ICE Director of Investigations
Marcy Forman-Friedman a/k/a “Peppermint Patty”
She goes on to tell agents that they are to assist on all local and state law enforcement calls for illegals . . . OOPS, “undocumenteds”. And they must process each and every one of the aliens, checking their documents and identities to protect national security.
We agree, and wonder why her boss, girl from the mall, at the beginning of the year. Maybe, it’s because this memo was meant to get into the hands of people like me, at the height of criticism of ICE and Bush Administration inaction on the illegal alien problem. This memo makes it look like she’s doing something. When she isn’t.
Unfortunately, Peppermint Patty writes in bold that,

The lack of bed space is not a sufficient reason for not responding to a request for assistance.

But it IS a sufficient reason to continue with the silly shell game of “catch-and-release” of illegal aliens. And that’s why the key and most dangerous part of Peppermint Patty’s instructions are hidden on the second page:

If all criminal and DHS systems checks reveal no derogatory information on the detainee, it is expected that the agents complete the administrative processing . . . and, if applicable, issue a Notice to Appear (NTA). [DS: Agents call these Notices to DISAppear.] Depending on available bed space, and after consultation with the Office of Deportation and Removal Operations (DRO), a determination of bond (NTA/WA) or release on the alien’s own recognizance (NTA/ROR), will be made.

Notices to (Dis)Appear? Releasing aliens on their own recognizance? Does this sound to you like our government is really serious about finally beginning to stem the tides of illegal aliens? All of the National Guard troops on the border won’t change a thing if this is the state of interior “enforcement.”
And that’s the glaring problem present in Homeland Security Inspector General Richard Skinner’s latest report: “Detention and Removal of Illegal Aliens.” Although it is dated April 14th, it was released to the public on May 18th, and it is highly disturbing. We only wish Ms. Forman-Friedman would read it. It is a scathing audit of ICE’s release of illegal aliens who are linked to terrorist countries and/or are violent criminals.
We think it’s interesting that, last fall, Forman-Friedman that they had an important role in the Global War on Terror. Apparently, the role is to allow terrorists to stay free on our shores.
A brief summary: Skinner’s 52-page report says:

* A lack of detention space (beds), personnel, money, and legal obstacles have created “an official ‘mini-amnesty'” for illegal alien criminals and those from coutnries tied to terorrism.
* While an estimated 605,000 illegal alien inmates will go to local and state jails/prisons, half of them–while deportable when they complete their sentences–will mostly be set free into the great American abyss.
* An estimated 45,000 cases of illegal immigrants from terror-linked countries were released to the American alien frontier between fiscal
2001 and the first five months of 2005.
* More than 544,000 who have final deportation orders to leave the country are, instead, missing in America.

Skinner says that to halt the problem of the most high-risk illegal aliens, 35,000 more beds would be needed, costing $1.1 billion, for a total of 56,000 beds (DHS/ICE currently has just over 21,000).
So will ICE do anything to address this problem of terrorists and criminals going free? Not if is any indication.
Marcy Forman concludes her memo by saying:

When aliens who pose a threat to our nation are identified, all of our law enforcement authorities, both criminal and adminstrative, must be brought to bear. A failure to meet this obligation will only serve to diminish our [ICE’s] credibility in the law enforcement community and to further undermine the immigration process.

Credibility? Richard Skinner’s audit says otherwise.