The government’s top deportation official unloaded on a federal judge Thursday, accusing him of endangering American communities with a ruling late last month that curtailed ICE’s ability to ask local authorities to hold illegal immigrants for pickup.
Matt Albence, acting director at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said the judge, an Obama appointee to the bench, was ignoring the way law enforcement operates in the 21st century by ruling ICE’s databases aren’t reliable enough to sustain detainer requests.
“This decision will threaten public safety as it will lead to the release of criminal aliens back onto the street,” Mr. Albence said.
He cast Judge André Birotte Jr.’s ruling as not only overreach by a runaway federal judiciary, but as part of an anti-ICE sentiment sweeping the country and making it tougher for his deportation officers to enforce the laws.
He said Judge Birotte’s decision was also an attack on Congress, which wrote the laws.
“Our agency’s authorities are being singled out and marginalized in ways no other federal law enforcement agency has to tolerate,” he said.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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