John Morton, head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), pictured at right, has issued a memorandum the enforcement priorities and procedures of Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) as they relate to the apprehension, detention, and removal of non-U.S. citizens.

The Orlando Sentinel reported today that the U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (USICE) deported yesterday, 26 Haitians who have criminal convictions. This was the first group of Haitians that have been deported since the U.S. government placed a hold on deportations soon after the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that ravaged that country last year. The Haitian-American community in Florida and the immigration advocates who [...]

The New York Times reported earlier this week that Governor Patterson issued pardons last week to 24 lawful permanent residents (green card holders) with prior criminal convictions, to avoid deportation to their native countries. The Governor’s term and by extension, the pardon panel will end on December 31, 2010.  The panel received over 1,100 applications for executive clemency this year and the pressure to render decisions on [...]

The Orlando Sentinel reported today that critics in the federal government have raised concerns that although the President has heightened immigration enforcement efforts on businesses that are suspected of hiring undocumented immigrants, and despite the fact that the U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (USICE) has already conducted more workplace audits of the I-9  (Employment Eligibility Verification) forms, critics feel that the government’s enforcement has been has been too lenient [...]

The Orlando Sentinel reported today that in Florida, U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (USICE) officers under the leadership of Marc Moore who was appointed by the DHS earlier this year to head the USICE’s Office of Detention & Removal at the Miami Field Office, oversaw the deportations of over 15,000 foreign nationals, most of them were deported because of their criminal convictions. [...]

The New York Times reported today that New York State Governor David A. Paterson formed a special clemency panel consisting of a group of five (5) individuals from the governor’s office and state agencies earlier this year to expedite the granting of clemency, otherwise known as pardons to lawful permanent residents (green card holders) who are in deportation proceedings for criminal convictions that [...]

The Orlando Sentinel reported today that the Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano reported yesterday that the U.S. Customs & Border Protection (USCBP), a component of the DHS, reported a 17% reduction in arrests in Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 which ended on September 30, 2010. According to the DHS Secretary, the reduction in arrests is the result of a combination of factors such as the downward economy, heightened [...]

The Orlando Sentinel reported today that the U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (USICE) deported about 392,000 foreign nationals in Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 which ran from October 1, 2009 through September 30, 2010. According to USICE officials, about 195,000 of the individuals deported were criminal aliens.  That was about a 70% increase from compared to FY 2008.  This record number of deportations was the result [...]

Congress recently passed the Border Security Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2010. It was was passed by the House of Representatives on July 28, 2010 and then by the Senate on August 5, 2010.  The bill will be forwarded to the President and he is expected to sign it into law. Out of the $ 540 million that was authorized by Congress, the U.S. Customs [...]

The Orlando Sentinel reported today that Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, who is also running for Governor, introduced an Arizona-style immigration related legislation yesterday that would require Florida law enforcement to check the immigration status of anyone suspected of being an undocumented immigrant while enforcing other laws. If the legislation becomes law, it would require immigrants to carry documents proving their [...]