Immigration: A view from inside the department

At a dinner last night night, talking to an acquaintance who works for the Department of Immigration, in a division known as "Detention and Removal ".  Some insights:

On staffing:  Unlike most government agencies, where hiring has increased in tandem with regulations, Immigration is understaffed by 37%.  According to my source, the Obama administration intentionally withholds funding and uses other bureaucratic techniques to avoid filling these positions, in order to make the removal process harder for the department to implement and easier for the illegals to skirt.

On Chris Christie:  My friend loathes him.  And not for the usual "government employee" reasons.  If the story I heard last night was accurate, in the 18 months leading up to Chris Christie's election as governor, valid New Jersey deportation cases slowed to a halt as his office (US Attorney General) refused to move any deportation cases along.  Apparently, the governor feared being accused him of "anti-immigrant tendencies" during the campaign by either the media or Hispanic activists .  I can't confirm the validity of this claim (although I am sure records are kept on the level of activity), but if this is true, it's another reason - along with his fealty to the "global warming" craze and his disturbing desire to rub elbows with power, including Barack Obama and Chinese dictators - why Christie is likely best off not entering the 2012 Republican presidential primaries.

Tilted playing field against the department:  If US Immigration makes even the smallest mistake on any form or document - even spelling, in some cases - judges turn the illegals immigrants loose in an instant.  Should said illegal make a mistake, however, he is told how to correct his form and allowed to re-enter his documents.  No many how many times it happens.

The saddest thing I ever heard:  "The case is not closed until the illegal alien wins."



It's a miracle these guys can wake up and go to work every day, trying to enforce the law, with the knowledge that their own government is working tirelessly to ensure that their work ends in failure...