Speech #1130127627

ICE is ranked dead last by its employees. In June 2010. the National ICE Council. the union that represents more than 7.000 agents within ICE. cast a unanimous vote of "No Confidence" in former ICE Director John Morton. That vote stemmed from the fact that the agents were prevented by senior leadership from carrying out their law_ ful duty to enforce immigration laws. Several ICE agents later sued Secretary Napolitano. Director Morton. and former U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Mayorkas. arguing that the administrations amnesty policies caused the ICE agents to violate their oath of office and Federal law by commanding them to refrain from detaining certain illegal aliens. The court held that "DHS does not have discretion to refuse to initiate removal proceedings [where the law requires it to do so]." The court also reaffirmed that Congress. and not the President. has the plenary power to set immigration law and that the administrations prosecutorial discretion and DACA policies violate Federal law. Congress cannot further capitulate to this Presidents overreach. I would ask my colleagues to heed Professor Jonathan Turleys warning: I believe that [Congress] is facing a critical crossroads in terms of its continued relevance in this process.