Some of the ICE agents with Operation Catahoula Crunch in Louisiana may not be qualified for their mission.
Here’s what happened. In the Trump Administration’s rush to build an ICE force, many applicants were given a quick stamp of approval without being vetted or without any training. Keep in mind that these agents have powerful weapons while performing their duties.
To attract enough applicants to the ICE positions, the Administration offered a $50,000 bonus to join ICE. It;s easy to imagine the multitude of average people without jobs or with minimal jobs who rushed to apply. The Administration was a bit deceptive because the applicants were given just $10,000 at the time of signing up with the other $40,000 to be doled out over time. Even $10,000 is a lot of money, but that did not live up to the perceived $50,000 promised initially.
While in the ICE program, agents will be required to go through training, if necessary, and anyone who does not successfully complete the training or leaves ICE within the first 24 months will be required to pay back the $10,000. Good luck getting that back. You think those people will still have that money?
It has been reported that there are ICE agents on the job of finding and arresting illegal immigrants who do not know who to effectively read and write. That’s an insult to the job that’s being done and since many of the ICE agents were not vetted that they are no better than the people they are hunting and detaining.
There are countless stories of people arrested and detained that should never have been arrested or detained and that reality defies The Constitution and the spirit of America.
Lowering standards just to fill the ranks of ICE is dangerous and demonstrates a lack of respect by the Administration for hiring the best. This entire ICE operation has been a rush job, perhaps to help the president fulfill a campaign promise and to demonstrate a “tough guy” approach. The fact that only 8 out of the first 38 people detained in the New Orleans area actually had criminal records is testament to reaching the quota of 5,000 arrests in Louisiana. What if there are more than 5,000 illegal immigrants with criminal records in Louisiana? Will ICE leave the rest alone? And what if there are less than 5,000 in our state - will ICE just arrest innocent people to make up the quota? There should be no quota for ICE. Arrest and deport the people who deserve it - not enough people to reach a quota.
I have no problem removing many illegal immigrants from this country, especially the illegal immigrants with criminal records, but the motive and execution of ICE so far spells out a hateful mission to remove brown people from America, while Americans, conservatives and liberals, continue to hire illegal immigrants to do jobs Americans will not do or will not do at a cheaper rate. But still Americans are hiring illegal immigrants.