Biden border chief Chris Magnus fighting slew of accusations of incompetence, disinterest, and outright criminal misconduct at Homeland Security
By Paul Lienert
This is part of a series on the Obama administration’s border policies.
The White House’s border control apparatus has a troubled history.
In an effort to stop criminal immigration, President Obama established the border control agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, under a series of executive orders with broad language:
(1) “That the Department of Homeland Security shall constitute an integral part of the Attorney General’s National Security Division and shall be subject to the direction of the National Security Advisor and the Secretary of Homeland Security.”
(2) “That the activities and authorities of the Attorney General’s National Security Division shall be carried out pursuant to the National Security Decision Directive issued by the President, pursuant to his constitutional duty to take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall be directed by the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, the Director of National Intelligence, and the Attorney General.”
(3) “That the Attorney General shall be responsible for protecting our borders, and enforcing the immigration laws, to the extent supported by sufficient constitutional authority and such other authorities granted by the laws of the United States as may be required.”
(4) “That a high level of responsibility for coordinating and directing the activity of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency be vested in the Attorney General.”
The first order granted nearly all of the powers of the law enforcement agency to ICE agents, although, ironically, the second contained language directing the attorney general to ensure that the agency was coordinated with other law enforcement entities.
The law enforcement agencies that were charged with enforcing the immigration laws were also given broad discretion to carry out the mission. Border security would be determined by the Border Patrol, not ICE.
The third order allowed ICE to enforce immigration and naturalization laws “to the extent supported by sufficient constitutional authority and such other authorities granted by the laws of the United States as may be required.” That is, ICE was empowered to arrest aliens and deport them on behalf of the attorney