A recent article in the Washington Post demonstrates that Assistant Secretary Morton's assurances of there being no arrest quotas in ICE are not to be relied upon.

From the article:

"Seeking to reverse a steep drop in deportations, U.S. immigration authorities have set controversial new quotas for agents. At the same time, officials have stepped back from an Obama administration commitment to focus enforcement efforts primarily on illegal immigrants who are dangerous or have violent criminal backgrounds.

The moves, outlined in internal documents and a recent e-mail by a senior U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official to field directors nationwide, differ from pledges by ICE chief John T. Morton and his boss, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, to focus enforcement on the most dangerous illegal immigrants. That approach represented a break from the mass factory raids and neighborhood sweeps the Bush administration used to drive up arrests...

"For ICE leadership, it's not about keeping the community safe. It's all about chasing this 400,000 number," said Chris Crane, spokesman for the American Federation of Government Employees Council 118, which represents ICE workers.

Since November, ICE field offices in Northern California, Dallas and Chicago have issued new evaluation standards and work plans for enforcement agents who remove illegal immigrants from jails and prisons. In some cases, for example, the field offices are requiring that agents process an average of 40 to 60 cases a month to earn "excellent" ratings.

Such standards present a problem, said one San Francisco area agent who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid reprisal. Instead of taking a day to prepare a case against a legal resident with multiple convictions for serious crimes, agents may choose to process a drunk driver or nonviolent offender who agrees to leave the country voluntarily, because it will take only hours."

In addition to the article, the Washington Post has published copies of emails and memos from ICE officials, including a tasking from the Director of DRO, James Chaparro that states that he personally wants the field offices to take certain measures to increase the number of non-criminal arrests. Also included is a memo from a Supervisor in Dallas, TX that specifies a certain number of arrests expected from individual agents, and how it will reflect on that agent's performance evaluation, as well as an email that appears to be aimed at Chicago, IL agents, and a Performance Work Plan that again requires specific numbers of arrests from an agent.

As you can see from the article, the ICE Council is following this very closely and is quite involved in addressing this serious issue on behalf of the employees of ICE and the American public.