Napolitano
DALLAS (Legal Newsline) - A group of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and officers on Thursday sued Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and ICE Director John Morton.
They are seeking to enjoin DHS from implementing and enforcing a June 15 Directive which instructs them to not enforce immigration laws in certain instances. The issue is the deferred deportation program the Obama administration is putting into practice and how it is doing it.
The new deportation policy permits illegal aliens to avoid deportation and be furnished a work permit for up to two years given certain qualifications.
The ICE officers say since any detained illegal aliens do not have to prove if they qualify for deferred deportation, it is tantamount to everyone qualifying. They say the policy leads to confusion.
The plaintiffs assert in the complaint that the Directive instructs them to act in violation of their oaths and is unconstitutional. But also they maintain that they risk adverse employment action if they do not follow the directive.
The complaint was filed in Texas federal court. Among the plaintiffs named in the complaint is Christopher Crane, an ICE Deportation Officer at Salt Lake City Field Office. He is also the President of the ICE Agents and Officers Union, AFGE Council #118.