The Obama administration’s Department of Homeland Security is brazenly violating U.S. law and participating in criminal conspiracies to smuggle illegal immigrants into the United States, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen said in a December ruling. He also noted that the schemes were helping to fund Mexican drug cartels and jeopardizing the lives of children. According to Hanen, the apparent Obama administration policies in question are part of a trend and represent a “dangerous course of action,” costing taxpayers huge sums while enriching criminal syndicates.
The stinging criticism and exposure of Obama’s Homeland Security apparatus and its lawless actions focused on a wide array of problems with the controversial human-trafficking machinations. Among other concerns, the judge said the administration was breaking the law; encouraging and rewarding criminals who continue violating the law; ensuring a steady stream of funds for dangerous Mexican drug cartels involved in human smuggling; endangering the lives of children; and much more. The court, Hanen wrote, is “quite concerned with the apparent policy of the Department of Homeland Security of completing mission of individuals who are violating the border security of the United States.”
The judge’s comments, which have attracted headlines across the nation, focused on one case in particular – the subject of the order. The criminal conspiracy in question involved an illegal immigrant in the United States paying human smugglers to bring her 10-year-old child across the border. The hired trafficker was arrested during the operation. “Despite this setback, the goal of the conspiracy was successfully completed thanks to the actions of the United States Government,” the judge wrote, noting that the child was delivered to her mother in Virginia by Homeland Security. The administration did not arrest, prosecute, or deport the mother, despite the crimes, he added.
“This DHS policy is a dangerous course of action,” the judge warned, echoing criticism from border groups and critics of the administration’s policies. “The DHS, instead of enforcing our border security laws, actually assisted the criminal conspiracy in achieving its illegal goals…. In summary, instead of enforcing the laws of the United States, the Government took direct steps to help the individuals who violated it. A private citizen would, and should, be prosecuted for this conduct.”
Beyond the implications of the lawlessness, the judge also ripped the apparent “logic” behind the administration’s policy. Among other serious concerns, he said it would put many more children in serious danger by encouraging other actual or potential illegal immigrants to hire cartel-linked human smugglers. While he indicated his sympathy and understanding of prosecutorial discretion and keeping families together, the administration’s arguments to justify its actions, Hanen said, are “absurd and illogical.”
“The DHS could reunite the parent and child by apprehending the parent who has committed not one, but at least two different crimes,” Judge Hanen wrote in the order. “It would be more efficient for the Government to arrest the individuals who are not only in the country illegally, but while in the country illegally are also fostering illegal conspiracies…. It would also be much cheaper to apprehend those co-conspirators and reunite them at the children’s location,” he added. “Yet, it neither prosecutes nor deports the wrongdoer.” In other words, the administration is “rewarding criminal conduct instead of enforcing the current laws.”