The parting of his family had left the dying president to set for description. The associated the Associated Press correspondent april 15, 1865 a reminder, this vigil continues overnight courtesy of fords theater. Many in what was the attire at the time to give you a sense of what was happening as the pres. Was inside president was inside Peterson House with family members, his wife, his son members of the president s cabinet. The following day 7 22 a. M. Eastern time succumbing from a single bullet. By the way, you can check out all of our offering online anytime at cspan. Org history. Every year we will take place sunday evening and 8 00 a. M. Eastern time. Check out our Schedule Information online. Thank you for tuning in as we reflect on the historic but consequential events 150 years ago tonight. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] up next on cspan2 the director of Us Immigration and Customs Enforcements question about president obamas executive action to block unlawful immigrants from being deported. Then a conversation about Law Enforcement and its relationship with the africanamerican community. Were you a fan . First ladies is now a book. Based on original interviews with more than 50 preeminent historians and biographers learn details about 451st ladies. The book of the lives of 45 iconic american women providing live the stories of these fascinating women who survived the scrutiny of the white house sometimes at great personal cost will support to families and famous husband and even changed history. And eliminating, entertaining, and inspiring read and is now available as hardcover or ebook through your favorite bookstore online bookseller. Next the head of the Us Immigration and Customs Enforcement testifies about immigration laws. At this House Judiciary Committee hearing she was asked about the use of prosecutorial discretion and the president s executive action on immigration. Congressman bob good lot of virginia chairs the committee. We welcome everyone to this mornings hearing. I will begin by recognizing myself for helping statement as the Obama Administration consistently shrinks the universe of criminal and unlawful aliens the Us Immigration and Customs Enforcement and removal. Ice administrator arrests declined 32 percent. The average daily population of aliens in detention facilities has declined approximately 26,000 beds. This has occurred despite a mandate in law that requires ice to maintain a 34000 average daily population in detention facilities. The number of unlawful or criminal aliens that ice is removed has fallen by more than half since 2008. Many factors have contributed including the collapse of issuance in compliance with the tenors because of their detainer policy issued on december 212014 that limits the ability to issue detainers, the detainers the failure to defend is detainer authority over the implementation of this new enforcement priorities denounced by sec. Johnson on November November 20, 2014 and the demise of the secure Communities Program on the same date. Detainers are a key tool used by ice. There are notices issued by ice and other dhs units that asked local, state, and federal Law Enforcement agencies that through release removal aliens held at the facilities in order to give us an opportunity to take them into its custody and put them in removal proceedings. Due to the detainer debacle this a ministration is created ice officers must wake up in the early hours of the morning, put their lives at risk and go out into the committee to apprehend convicted criminal aliens that have been released onto the streets. Director, you yourself a part of the confusion. He testifies to the detainer should be made mandatory in the next day to track your testimony. When aliens released onto the streets go on to commit additional crime that can be placed in custody, this a ministration is responsible. From january 12014 to september 302014 over 10,000 detainers were not honored. The recidivism rate was 29 percent. Innocent citizens and Law Enforcement officers to be injured, maimed, or murdered due to a detainer a detainer not being issued or honored because of this administrations policy. The administration is responsible and will be held accountable. When president obama announced its november 202014 he indicated that he would allow millions of unlawful and criminal aliens to evade Immigration Enforcement and did this with the issuance of new socalled Us Immigration and Customs Enforcement priorities for the apprehension, detention, and removal of aliens. Under the knew enforcement priority broad categories of unlawful and criminal aliens will be beyond the reach of the law, even if they dont qualify for the president s unconstitutional legalization program. This means that millions of removal aliens will remain in the us without any risk of. Simultaneously president obama effectively announced the end of secure communities despite the fact that the pres. President claims he took action to prioritize Immigration Enforcement against criminal aliens. He is scrapping a tool that identifies convoy aliens booked in jails across the United States so that federal Law Enforcement officials can prioritize the removal. Secure communities created secure communities created in 2,008 was a simple and highly Successful Program to identify criminal aliens once arrested and jailed. If protected american citizens and immigrants alike from aliens who are a danger to the committee. As i said said on numerous occasions secure communities simply uses an already existing federal Information Sharing Partnership between ice and the federal bureau of investigation and helps to identify criminal aliens so that ice can take enforcement action. As of august 2014 the administration indicated that over 375,000 convicted criminal aliens were removed as a result of secure communities. We just learned that in addition to releasing over 36,000 convicted criminal aliens in fiscal year 2013 demise released 30,558 convicted criminal aliens in fiscal year 2014 pursuant to its socalled priority. The agency released thousands of criminal aliens convicted of offenses involving dangerous drugs assault, assault, domestic violence, stolen vehicles, robbery, sex offenses, Sexual Assault and kidnapping, voluntary manslaughter and even homicide. 27 percent were level one the worst of the worst. Director, ices 1st duty and highest obligation is Public Safety, the nonsensical actions of this administration demonstrate his lack of desire to enforce the law. I can only hope that as the knew director you will reconsider these policies put in place by your predecessors and return ice to an agency that puts Public Safety and the enforcement of immigration laws is number one concern. It is now my pleasure to recognize the Ranking Member of the immigration and Border Security subcommittee the gentlewoman from california for her opening statement. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Todays hearing is a 1st opportunity to speak with the honorable director of Us Immigration and Customs Enforcement that is ice. The job is a difficult one. I think we can all agree. I look forward to hearing more about how she intends to approach the challenge. One of the miller responsibility she must carry out his implementing a series of Immigration Enforcement miranda issued in november by secretary johnson. These grew out of a direct a directive issued last march when obama asked sec. Johnson to secretary johnson to do an inventory of the departments current practices to see how it can conduct enforcement more humanely within the confines of the law. I believe the memoranda conveys a number of common sense reforms to our Immigration Enforcement efforts and represent the secretarys best efforts to carry out the presence directive. It is important to remember that these reforms did not take place overnight and were developed to respond to a particular problem that we observed over many years. During the Bush Administration officials regularly conducted worksite raids targeting people who were living and working in the country without authorization but who pose no threat to National Security or Public Safety. Half of the people reported from the interior had never been convicted of a crime or have been convicted of immigration of Traffic Offenses. Many many were hoping to grow our economy, but food on our tables from all of whom were supporting their own american spouse and children. The Bush Administration began to shift away from that unfocused enforcement in its final years command this administration has sought to continue the trend because earlier efforts because earlier efforts fell short secretary johnson is november memo the policyholders and more carefully on the departments top three civil Immigration Enforcement priorities and incorporates clear prosecutorial discretion guidance. The the memo explains the prosecutorial discretions maybe exercise not only if it falls outside of the priorities but for persons will appear to be priorities but to have compelling extenuating circumstances. When making enforcement decisions the memo directs immigration officials to consider individual circumstances such as the length of time the person is lived in the United States military service, number of years have passed since an offense leading to a convention and other compelling humanitarians acts such as poor health age, pregnancy, or young children. Making clear decisions. Making clear decisions should be based on the totality of circumstances. It makes sense to focus per 1st on persons who pose a threat before we turn our attention to people who have lived in the country for years its come have strong equities, and you are contributing members of the community. I hope you will hear what the agency is doing to ensure the totality of circumstances is considered. I am concerned about reports i continue to receive about Enforcement Actions being taken against people who appear to be candidates for prosecutorial discretion. The wellpublicized case mennonite pastor from iowa is one such case. Although his 17 yearold conviction undoubtedly counts as a significant misdemeanor and undoubtedly places hims in the priority to category the time sense that offense his marriage to a dr. Beneficiary and his years of service appear to make him an ideal candidate for discretion yet he was deported to honduras last month. The memorandum explains this should not be used for persons who are known to be suffering from serious physical or Mental Illness disabled, elderly, pregnant, or nursing or demonstrate their our primary caretakers of children whose detention is otherwise not in the public interest. I am reminded of Francisco Christiana to testify before the subcommittee for months before he died from cancer that went untreated throughout his 11 months in ice custody. I was reminded again whenever an article last week about a detainee a detainee who died of cancer after being detained since 2010. I understand i understand the office of professional responsibility is reviewing this matter but i think the case raises important issues it is difficult to square the language with the departments current policy of Holding Women and children in detention even after they have established a credible or reasonable fear of persecution. We we received reports about the detention of a child with brain cancers, mother with Ovarian Cancer mother with a the congenital brain disorder and 15 dayold baby held with his postpartum mother. Our experience has not been agos. When i received we received a contract to convert immediate security prison and what became the results were awful. After litigation congressional oversight and sustained public outrage families have moved out of the facility and i am concerned were making the same mistake but much larger scale. Right from the start the program was based on misrepresentation to federal, state, and local officials and became deeply unpopular and clear that it would largely be used to apprehend and remove criminals at the state and local level. When i spoke with director last month we agreed it is must 1st regain the trust. That process begins with regain the trust of immigrant communities. This is has put us on the right track to a common sense approach and i look forward to working with the director to ensure the memorandum are being implemented in their entirety. I would like to put two things in the record. We belong together about this hearing and also the appropriations languages that does not specify 34,000 people in detention. It says the department shall maintain a level of not less than 34,000 detention beds. That is not people we will beds command i think we need to make clear what the statute requires. I would ask unanimous consent to put those in the record and yield back. The time of the gentleman has expired. Without objection i would like to place in the record a breakdown of criminal convictions associated with criminal aliens ice released in 2014, a breakdown of criminal convictions associated with the 2,457 releases in 2014 and the enforcement and removal operations with reports for the week of march 29 april 4 the chernow is pleased to recognize the chairman of the immigration and Border Security subcommittee, subcommittee, the german from South Carolina for his opening statement. Thank you. As we approach this hearing we are wise to keep in mind the primary duty of government the security and protection of the American People. A key part of the filling that duty because we entrust them with the enforcement of our immigration laws. In fact, the mission reads Us Immigration and Customs Enforcement enforces federal laws governing Border Patrol, customs, trade immigration to promote Homeland Security and Public Safety. Given the critically Important Mission we take our oversight seriously and ice his work has an immense impact on the people that we work for. Internally ice has been plagued by low morale tied for dead last. One would have to ask himself or herself why is morale that will. Could it possibly be that women and men are now being asked not to. We also no there is a deep deficit of trust among our fellow americans with regard to the immigration system. Decisions by administrations for both parties to selectively enforce our immigration laws have had a negative effect on our system such as the case anytime one selectively enforces the law. You would think we would have learned that lesson by now. President obama declared unilaterally almost 5 million undocumented aliens would receive deferred action under some newfangled definition of prosecutorial discretion. Moreover in moreover in addition to using prosecutorial discretion as a license to rewrite law, he conferred benefits on the same people. I want people to understand this the decision to avoid the application consequences through prosecutorial discretion is different from the affirmative decision to confer benefits on that same class or group. Two very different concepts. One is constitutionally rooted on a casebycase basis and the other is a purely political calculation without much grounding if at all in the law. Folks folks may like the president s policy to which the policy were law of one person does not make a lot command we should take you those who benefit from the application will be crying out for the full application of the law tomorrow because such as the nature of law once it is eroded you do not restore it without great consequence. In fact the president himself agreed with that and said the notion that i could suspend deportation is just not the case. He told us time and time and time again and reminded us that he was not the king. His position may have changed for the constitution is not. Prosecutorial discretion israel, and constitutionally valid but not a synonym for anarchy. As us district as Us District Court judge Andrew Hayden wrote in his recent opinion dhs does have the discretion in the manner in which he chooses to it uses to fulfill the expressed will of congress. It cannot enact a program whereby it not only ignores congress but actually moves to thwart them. In effect the administration has asked ice officers to stop enforcing entire categories of our immigration law. Not only that, not only that, but under the current administrations knew enforcement priorities billions of aliens were not even eligible to benefit can remain in the us in violation of law without fear enforcement. You have touched upon the detainer issues. I would forward to go