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FIRST ON FOX: Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich is citing the failure by the Biden administration to release the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) annual report as the latest example of the lack of transparency that the Department of Homeland Security has exhibited when it comes to the effects of its liberal immigration policies.
ICE is yet to release its annual report containing data on ICE’s enforcement operations and investigations throughout the fiscal year, which ended the last day of September. It is typically released by the end of the calendar year.
BIDEN ADMIN STILL TO RELEASE LONG-AWAITED ICE REPORT ON ARRESTS, DEPORTATIONS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS
ICE told Fox News in January, however, that there was no delay because it is typically released around the end of the year or the beginning of the next year. The agency said the report is in final review and the release date is still to be determined.
Brnovich, in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, contrasted the failure to release the report with his claim that DHS would be “open, transparent and accountable.”
“The failure to release this report is hardly in line with that pledge,” Brnovich writes. “It gives rise to concerns that your Department has something to hide from the American people and has not accomplished its mission to uphold the rule of law.”
ICE DEPORTATIONS DROPPED SHARPLY IN FY 2021 AS BIDEN ADMIN RESTRICTED AGENCY
He also cited a refusal by the administration “to meet with key stakeholders in Border States — even though our office and many other members of law enforcement have pleaded with the President, Vice President, and other Cabinet Secretaries to see the crisis at the border firsthand and at least hear our concerns.”
He noted multiple lawsuits filed by his office to stop ICE guidance that narrows the priorities for ICE enforcement. Those rules prioritize three categories of illegal immigrants: recent border crossers, aggravated felons and national security threats. The administration has claimed it allows agents to focus limited resources on top priority threats.
Additionally, ICE has been restricted from carrying out worksite enforcement operations and operations near certain areas, including courthouses.
In September, a memo instructed agents that someone’s illegal status should not alone be the basis for arrest and deportation.
While the data on deportations has not yet been released, Fox News reported this month that initial ICE data show there were 55,590 removals in FY 2021, a fraction of removals from prior years.
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That’s down significantly from the 185,884 deportations in FY 2020 and the 267,258 removed in FY 2019, despite an enormous surge of migrants coming to the U.S., many of whom were processed and released into the U.S. Critics of the administration have tied the drop in deportations to the new rules implemented by the Biden administration.
Brnovich called on Mayorkas to release the ICE annual report and expressed hope that DHS would work with border states on the crisis.
“Our office would like to work alongside your Department to improve the safety and security of all Arizonans. To date, this administration has essentially told us to pound sand,” he said.