ICE Chases Drunk Drivers In National Raid

Reuters/Joshua Lott

ICE continues to deport a near record number of undocumented immigrants.  Amongst them are some of the people who have caused lots of problems in the U.S.  Those include drug dealers, child pornographers, drunk drivers, drug abusers and dealers and gang members.

Monday, the Department of Homeland Security announced the results of a nation-wide sweep collecting immigrants in the problem category.  More than 2,000 people were arrested in a 5 day sweep in operation "cross check".

While ICE likes to shine the spotlight on serious offenders, only slightly more than 50% of their nation-wide sweep netted "serious" offenders.  The rest of the unlucky 2,000 immigrants who got caught in the sweep, nearly half, may have had no offense at all, or only minor offenses.

It does not take much to get on the "serious offender" list, including being convicted of a DUI or mere possession of a controlled substance not involved in "dealing".  If this is what ICE considers a serious offender, including 991 of the 2,000 people ICE picked up in it's raid, then it is clearly targeting the wrong people.

It is the arresting of the completely innocent immigrant in these nation-wide man hunts which troubles activists the most.  ICE is perfectly happy to arrest any immigrant they come across while looking for the "serious offender", and in their "knock and talks" despite knowing the President has prioritized enforcement efforts.  To justify it's knock in the wee hours of the morning, ICE releases propaganda claiming to arrest the "worst of the worst" when the majority of the people they arrested had misdemeanor DUI changes.

ICE makes no distinction how long ago an offense occurred.  People with 30 year old DUI charges are hardly a risk to U.S. society, as the passage of time and a clean record since their conviction shows they are rehabilitated and no risk to citizens.  More recent offenders are under court ordered rehabilitation programs.  Their arrest removes them from the supervision of the court and may be robbing them of the opportunity to resolve their addictions.

Some wonder who is better to manage serious criminals: the U.S. or a third world country?  When ICE dumps immigrants into the hands of gangs in central locations, like Ciudad Juarez, then it is destabilizing those nations.  These "dangerous" people are now on the loose, free to offend, when they would have been better managed by the U.S. justice system.  Offending from afar is much easier these days with the Internet, especially for child predators.  Dumping serious gang members into the hands of cartel members just increases the working rants of drug cartels.

The targeting of drunk drivers is also troubling.  Most of these drivers have gone through or are in court ordered rehabilitation programs that last a year or more.  The solution to alcoholism is not deportation.  Alcoholism and drug addiction are better solved from the social scientists rehabilitation point of view combined with a strict dose of the criminal justice system to help people find a solution to their addictions.  Catching and removing people from these rehabilitative processes degrades the effectiveness of court ordered rehabilitation.  

The prospect behind homeland security is to make America safer and stronger.  National raids targeting "serious" criminals, but catching mostly D.U.I. offenders and innocent immigrants, is not a step towards making America stronger.  Pulling people out of their rehabilitation support systems and dropping them in high crime recruitment areas does not protect national security or make the world a safer place.  Sending the true hard criminal to a third world where they can offend with impunity, likewise does not make any country safer.  The U.S. is the best place for them as we manage to institutionalize more people per capita than any other nation.  

ICE has a vital role to play in the security of our nation.  Their efforts stopping sex tourism and sex trafficking are nothing short of noble.  They protect the copyright of private industry.  They help prevent terrorist attacks.  Yet their praying on everyday common immigrants who have done nothing more than drink and drive, and mostly nothing at all, is destabilizing other countries, dividing families and making America an unsafe place to live.  It is also directing the precious resources of a national law enforcement agency towards chasing drunk drivers rather than chasing threats to national security.