Deportation of convicted illegal immigrants to take precedence

The Obama administration has announced that Department of Homeland Security will begin focusing its efforts on illegal immigrants who have been convicted of crimes in the U.S. It plans to target criminals even further by making sure it is not focusing its resources on deporting people who are low priorities for deportation, including individuals such as young people who were brought to this country as small children, and who know no other home; individuals such as military veterans and the spouses of active-duty military personnel.

Cecilia Muñoz, White House Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, said it makes no sense to use enforcement resources on low-priority cases when they could be used with more impact on others, including individuals who have been convicted of serious crimes.

Muñoz said DHS along with the Department of Justice, will review the current deportation caseload to clear out low-priority cases on a case-by-case basis. She said the agencies will take steps to keep low-priority cases out of the deportation pipeline. She said the agencies will apply common sense guidelines to make these decisions, including a person’s ties and contributions to their communities, their family relationships and military service record.