U.S. Department of Homeland Security will review all cases of expulsion for 300,000 files in federal immigration courts to determine which persons meet specific criteria and to focus on priority cases, reports CNN.
Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano, said that this review will enhance public safety. “Immigration judges will be able to handle faster priority cases, such as those relating to convicted persons”, Napolitano wrote to senators on Thursday.
In April, 22 senators have asked Napolitano to stop the expulsion of immigrant students who have would chance to obtain legal status under the DREAM law, which would give immigrant children the opportunity to obtain citizenship if they enrolled in the army or go to college.
Napolitano said that the Obama administration often said that “it does not make sense to spend resources on low priority cases, such as (…) people who were brought to this country as infants and do not know another house”.
Immigration officials say that the courts are overcrowded, which endangers public safety, due to lack of money, time and resources. They want resources of the department not be spent on illegal immigrants who have no criminal record, but on individuals who pose a threat to public safety and national security.
But the Federation of American Immigration Reform (FAIR), which advocates for a reform to reduce immigration, said in a statement that this action is “an administrative amnesty and a comprehensive reform of national immigration policy without congressional approval”.