Today, various members of the Ohio American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) met with the Chief Counsel of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). It's important to understand that the Chief Counsel's office is responsible for the removal prosecutions throughout the country as well as advising on other enforcement processes including but not limited to worksite and I-9 enforcement. The Chief Counsel's office in Detroit, is responsible for the states of Ohio and Michigan.
One of the primary topics of conversation today was the recent memorandum on prosecutorial discretion. PD as it is called is a mechanism to afford qualifying persons in removal or proceedings (or sometimes prior to the initiation of proceedings) administrative grace or avenues to either obtain status through removal proceedings or to have their matter deferred or even dismissed. The recent memorandum reinforces the qualifying factors and identifies the primary negative factors. The memo is not binding but does provide guidance to all key agency policy.
The primary issue with the memorandum is not the substance (at this point). The issue is its release without a process to implement. It's important to understand that many ICE trial attorneys and key personnel are legacy INS officers who were around when 9/11 shattered our world. Their roles were the strict enforcement of policy. However, the paradigm has shifted and those embedded ideals are deep rooted and will take time to change.
It's probelmatic that ICE issued the memorandum without first training re-acculturating the policies embedded therein. This became evident in the meeting today however our own Chief Counsel appears to be on board with the goals of the memorandum. We sincerely hope he can instill this apparent belief in the policies to some of those personnel who are hardened legacy INS thinkers.
Comments