Congressman Lamar Smith, Twenty First Congressional
District of Texas
WASHINGTON – House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Lamar Smith (R-Texas) praised Department of Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Jane Holl Lute for her decision to deny a petition for rulemaking related to detention standards for immigration detainees. The decision was reported in today’s New York Times.
Ranking Member Smith: “I commend the Department of Homeland Security for its decision to deny a petition for rulemaking related to detention standards for immigration detainees. I also appreciate the fine efforts of the men and women of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) who work every day to safely and humanely enforce our nation’s immigration laws.
“This decision will prevent a flood of frivolous lawsuits aimed at paralyzing the detention system. As the Deputy Secretary rightly pointed out, the prior administration implemented a number of reforms to strengthen oversight of its detention facilities. Having worked with ICE leadership in the prior administration as those reforms were developed, I am confident that they provide for appropriate treatment of illegal immigrant and criminal alien detainees.
“We must not forget that most illegal immigrants and criminal aliens hold the keys to their detention cells. They can leave immigration detention simply by accepting their deportation orders and returning to their home country.
“The difficult reality that the Obama administration faces is that the open borders crowd will never be satisfied as long as illegal immigrants are arrested, detained and deported. Though this administration’s enforcement efforts are significantly weaker than those of the prior administration, it has not abandoned enforcement altogether. And so they will continue to be at odds with those who want nothing short of amnesty for lawbreakers.”
