More than once in the past year, I’ve been at the county jail or the Oklahoma City office and encountered the phenomenon of citizens being detained as unlawfully present foreign nationals. The most recent occurred while I sat waiting on another matter at the Oklahoma City field office of the Department of Homeland Security. An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer brought out someone after the citizen’s family brought the citizen’s certificate of citizenship. Who is to blame? ICE? The Oklahoma County Sheriff? I vote for both.
In any event, the Associated Press issued a story talking about this phenomenon. I’ve maintained that ever since former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff started his enforcement campaign that it’d create more than just the economic damage that he predicted. I previously suggested someone should write a letter to the Secretary asking for a list of terrorists and criminals caught in the enforcement campaign. I am going to write a letter this week asking for this information but I am also going to ask for the number of citizens wrongfully held or removed as part of the enforcement campaign.
The Associated Press also issued a report giving profiles of United States citizens detained or deported.