No confidence
It can’t be a good sign when the union representing 7,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents unanimously passes a no-confidence motion against ICE management:
The union that represents rank-and-file field agents at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has unanimously passed a “vote of no confidence” for the agency’s leadership, saying ICE has “abandoned” its core mission of protecting the public to support a political agenda favoring amnesty.
The National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 7,000 ICE agents and employees, voted 259-0 for a resolution saying there was “growing dissatisfaction and concern” over the leadership of Assistant Secretary John Morton, who heads ICE, and Phyllis Coven, assistant director for the agency’s office of detention policy and planning.
The resolution said ICE leadership had “abandoned the agency’s core mission of enforcing U.S. immigration laws and providing for public safety,” instead directing its attention “to campaigning for programs and policies related to amnesty and the creation of a special detention system for foreign nationals that exceeds the care and services provided to most U.S. citizens similarly incarcerated.
“It is the desire of our union … to publicly separate ourselves from the actions of Director Morton and Assistant Director Coven and publicly state that ICE officers and employees do not support Morton or Coven or their misguided and reckless initiatives, which could ultimately put many in America at risk,” the union said.
Be sure to read the whole thing, and check out Power Line for good analysis. Meanwhile I’ll leave you with this: the Executive Branch, starting at the top with the President, is charged with seeing that the laws of the United States are faithfully executed. What does it say when the rank and file of a law-enforcement agency accuse the Executive of not just failing at that duty, but positively refusing to do it?
And no, before anyone asks, I’m not indulging in an impeachment fantasy. It’s a stupid idea for many, many reasons. (For starters, “President Biden??”) But clearly the ICE management targeted by this resolution are following Obama administration policy preferences: they do not want illegal immigration controlled and they do want some sort of amnesty, whether granted by Congress or through (illegal?) administrative fiat. Cynics would say that’s because they assume illegals put on a path to citizenship would be likely future Democratic voters. That’s not impossible, as this is the most politically cynical administration I’ve experienced since Nixon’s.
But the way to stop them is not through self-indulgent cries for impeachment. Instead, we have to take Congress away from the (Social) Democrats. At least the House, and preferably the Senate, too. Then, with the power of the purse and the brakes applied by a divided government, we can throw light on the derelictions of this administration and lay the groundwork for electing a Chief Executive who will see that the laws are faithfully executed, rather than a President who thinks he’s still 12-years old.
(Crossposted at Public Secrets)