Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., released data indicating that nearly a quarter of the one million aliens who have final orders of removal come from countries that refuse to accept, or that delay the acceptance of, their nationals from the United States. Although the Obama Administration has options available to take action against these recalcitrant countries, these aliens are being released to the streets every day and committing crimes, Sen. Sessions says.
Data the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest obtained from ICE indicate that, as of June 25, 2016, there were 953,806 aliens in the United States with outstanding orders of removal, 242,772 of which come from countries that refuse to take back their nationals after they receive final removal orders. Of the 242,772, 57,029 were convicted of criminal offenses, or roughly 30 percent of the criminal aliens with removal orders in the United States—including 28,733 from Cuba, 7,705 from Vietnam, 2,140 from Haiti, and 1,848 from China.
Section 243(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act authorizes the Obama Administration to withhold visas from any country that refuses to repatriate its citizens. So far, this sanction has only been used against Gambia, which has 1,268 nationals in the United States with final orders of removal. That represents less than 1 percent of the number of aliens from countries that refuse or delay repatriation of their nationals.
Sen. Sessions’ press release notes, “These refusals undermine American immigration law, cost U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars, and place American citizens at risk of criminal violence and fraud. For example, in 2012, ICE released an alien who had completed his sentence for attempted murder instead of deporting him to Haiti, because Haiti refused to accept him. In 2015, the same alien stabbed 25-year-old Casey Chadwick of Norwich, Connecticut, before stuffing her body in a closet. In 2013, an alien who should have been deported to Cambodia in 2009, but was instead released from ICE custody, molested a child that he picked up from a school without authorization. And in 2010, an alien who should have been deported to Jamaica, but was instead released, broke into his ex-girlfriend’s home and stabbed her and a friend as her children slept nearby.”
Sen. Sessions said the Administration has known about these problems for years but has “allowed these countries to flout their legal obligations with little or no repercussions.”
Read more in Sen. Sessions’ press release.
