Speech #1140021566

I would like to discuss a bill I am introducing today with my colleagues from North Carolina. Senators TILLIS and BURR. related to criminal gangs. Our bill would reform our immigration laws to protect the homeland and the publics safety by ensuring that criminal gang members are not eligible for deportation relief and are swiftly removed from the country. Under current immigration laws. alien gang members are generally not deportable or inadmissible based on their gang membership. and they are eligible for various benefits and forms of relief. Just this month. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS. admitted it erred in granting deferred deportation to a known gang member who is now charged with four counts of 1st degree murder in North Carolina. In response to a letter Senator TILLIS and I sent them. USCIS stated that Emmanuel Jesus Rangel -Hernandezs request for deferred deportation under President Obamas Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. DACA. executive order "should not have been approved" based on its procedures and protocols. This individual was placed in the removal process in March 2012. following drug charges. but was shielded from removal by USCIS even though the agency knew of his gang membership. After having received DACA. Mr. RangelHernandez allegedly murdered four people. Secretary Johnson testified today before the Senate Judiciary Committee and said. "If you are a member of a gang. a known member of a criminal gang. you should not receive DACA. You should be considered priority for removal." The Secretary said that RangelHernandez should not have been approved for DACA. and that there was a lapse in the background checks for this applicant. The RangelHernandez case shows that USCIS is not doing a thorough job reviewing the individuals who it allows to stay in this country under the Presidents deferred action program. It remains unclear whether USCIS has a zero tolerance policy for criminals and criminal gang members applying for DACA. or any other immigration benefit or form of relief from removal. It is unclear how many individuals have received DACA that shouldnt have. So far. since 2013. 282 individuals who are known gang members or criminals have had their DACA benefit terminated. The review of all cases. as ordered by Secretary Johnson. is ongoing. so that number could climb. In April 2015. nearly 1.000 gang members and associates from 239 different gangs were arrested in 282 cities across the U.S. during Project Wildfire. a 6week operation led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements. ICE. Homeland Security Investigations.