Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agents Declare Their Leadership Is Corrupt and Incompetent

Finally! The agents that work in the agency of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (known as ICE) have issued a letter of no confidence in their leadership and that in essence, that leadership is putting the American people in harm's way.

From the article at Family Security Matters:

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents overwhelmingly say that their department's leadership has become politicized to the point of affecting the effectiveness of ICE.

ICE agents through their union claim their leaders have little regard for the safety of American people. Their union has released a letter announcing its recent unanimous “vote of no confidence” in ICE agency heads, accusing them of “misleading the American public” regarding illegal immigration in order to further a pro-amnesty agenda.

The National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council and its affiliated local councils cast a unanimous 259-0 vote of no confidence in ICE Director John Morton and Assistant Director Phyllis Coven, according to Fox News Channel's Martha MacCallum.

So, let's discuss their leader, John Morton, just a little bit here. Here's a little glimpse from the past about Morton's placement at ICE:

President Obama announced today his intention to nominate John Morton to be the Assistant Secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano named Esther Olavarria as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy.
“John Morton and Esther Olavarria are tremendous additions to our Homeland Security team. Both have demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to public service and both will be able and effective partners as we tackle the very complex issues surrounding immigration and securing of our borders,” Secretary Napolitano said.

Oh, I see ... another dredge from the Department of Justice that Barack Hussein Obama and Janet Napolitano appointed - imagine that....Barack Hussein Obama with ANOTHER incompetent appointment. But let's look further - John Morton and Eric Holder both came out of the Justice department and were both hand picked by Obama. And both have pushed the envelope in any kind of enforcement against either minorities or illegals - just a coincidence? I think not.

Let's face it - the Obama administration has been orchestrated, if not constructed, with the intent and strategy of corrupting all of the agencies involved in law enforcement and policy regulation. Let's put it another way - it would be like hiring a staff of maintenance people for your manufacturing facility who know nothing about fixing equipment but are adept at dismantling all of that machinery. These are not qualified appointments - these are agents of sabotage that were hand picked for that exact purpose.

Tell me, dear reader, how many czars have been appointed with sabotage in mind? How many cabinet members have been appointed with the shoddiest of resumes? And how many agency heads, like ICE's Morton, appeared out of the shadows only to soar into a situation of absolute chaos?

ICE Chiefs Get "No Confidence" Vote From Their Agents


U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents overwhelmingly say that their department's leadership has become politicized to the point of affecting the effectiveness of ICE.

ICE agents through their union claim their leaders have little regard for the safety of American people. Their union has released a letter announcing its recent unanimous “vote of no confidence” in ICE agency heads, accusing them of “misleading the American public” regarding illegal immigration in order to further a pro-amnesty agenda.

The National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council and its affiliated local councils cast a unanimous 259-0 vote of no confidence in ICE Director John Morton and Assistant Director Phyllis Coven, according to Fox News Channel's Martha MacCallum.

The National Council members criticized the ICE leadership and claim they created "misguided and reckless initiatives,” and claim ICE managers “abandoned the Agency’s core mission of enforcing United States immigration laws and providing for public safety, and have instead directed their attention to campaigning for policies and programs related to amnesty.”

Besides Morton's and Coven's low marks, the Obama Administration recently appointed a former police chief, who believes in illegal alien sanctuary city policies, to command the immigration enforcement program that entails federal agents working with local police departments on cases involving illegal aliens.

As part of the Homeland Security Department's anti-terrorism mission, the new director for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Office of State and Local Coordination is now Harold Hurtt, an outspoken critic of immigration enforcement on the local level such as Arizona's new immigration enforcement law.

"As police chief in two different cities with huge illegal alien populations—Phoenix and Houston—Hurtt enforced don’t-ask-don’t-tell immigration measures that prevented officers from inquiring about a suspects’ legal status in the U.S.," according to officials at Judicial Watch, a non-partisan, public-interest group that investigates public corruption.

In his new post, Hurtt will receive a salary $180,000 a year plus benefits to oversee outreach and communication between federal immigration staff and local law enforcement agencies. He is charged with strengthening the collaboration between local police and federal immigration officials in an effort to combat a crisis that has rocked practically every major U.S. city and many small municipalities, according to Judicial Watch officials.

Homeland Security officials are promoting Hurtt as “a respected member of the law enforcement community” who will be an “invaluable asset to ICE’s outreach and coordination efforts.”

However, the reality is quite different, say proponents of tough immigration enforcement. Chief Hurtt is on record opposing immigration enforcement and as police chief protected the most violent of criminals. Hurtt has even testified before Congress that local police should not assist with immigration enforcement, say officials at Judicial Watch.

President Barack Obama has ordered the Justice Department to fight the Arizona law, which he claims is racist and unconstitutional. Officials in sanctuary cities couldn’t agree more and they want illegal aliens in their beloved city to feel safe.

"We can expect Chief Hurtt to continue to 'protect' criminal aliens as part of the Obama Administration's 'national security team" that includes other leftists who side with criminal aliens such as Attorney General Eric Holder, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and other Obama appointees," said former military intelligence officer and NYPD police detective Mike Snopes.

His pro-immigration policies enabled illegal immigrants with extensive criminal histories to murder two police officers and seriously injure another while he was chief in Phoenix and later in Houston. Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit against Hurtt on behalf of the deceased Houston officer’s wife for implementing the sanctuary policies that led to her husband’s murder at the hands of an illegal alien fugitive.

In the 2007 incident, Officer Rodney Johnson was brutally shot by a previously deported illegal immigrant during a traffic stop. The illegal alien, Juan Quintero, had an extensive criminal record and had been deported three years earlier for molesting a child.

The Mexican national had also been in trouble for driving while intoxicated, driving with a suspended license and for failing to stop and provide information after an automobile accident. When Johnson arrested him, Quintero shot him four times in the back of the head with a 9 millimeter handgun concealed in the waistband of his pants.

Some illegal aliens in the United States have been arrested and incarcerated in federal and state prisons and local jails, adding to already overcrowded prisons and jails. On April 7, 2007, the US Justice Department issued a report on criminal aliens that were incarcerated in federal and state prisons and local jails.

In the population study of 55,322 illegal aliens, researchers found that they were arrested at least a total of 459,614 times, averaging about 8 arrests per illegal alien. Nearly all had more than 1 arrest. Thirty-eight percent (about 21,000) had between 2 and 5 arrests, 32 percent (about 18,000) had between 6 and 10 arrests, and 26 percent (about 15,000) had 11 or more arrests. Most of the arrests occurred after 1990.

They were arrested for a total of about 700,000 criminal offenses, averaging about 13 offenses per illegal alien. One arrest incident may include multiple offenses, a fact that explains why there are nearly one and half times more offenses than arrests. Almost all of these illegal aliens were arrested for more than 1 offense. Slightly more than half of the 55,322 illegal aliens had between 2 and 10 offenses.

"[Hurtt's] appointment is simply one more nail in the coffin of America's sovereignty," Det. Snopes said.