ICE Agents Launch Whistleblower Website, Fear Trump “Stabbed them in the back”
One of the key reasons President Trump won last November was his stance on illegal immigration. Between the wall and his promise to provide relief to ICE agents whose hands were tied by the Obama administration, the president won a first: an endorsement for a candidate in a presidential election from the ICE agents’ union.
ICE, like (too) many executive agencies, has been polluted by Obama appointees and loyalists, so the ICE agents in the field are not getting the support they need to meet the president’s illegal immigration goals. Indeed, ICE managers are reportedly making questionable calls like ordering ICE agents not to wear bullet-proof vests because doing so “might offend” illegal aliens.
A contingent of ICE agents frustrated by their management have launched the website JIC Report in the hopes of getting the Commander in Chief’s attention and letting him know that they are being hobbled by Obama holdovers who flout the president’s illegal immigration agenda at every turn.
From their “About Us” page:
The JIC Report is a revolutionary new website that allows employee whistleblowers from within Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to communicate directly with the American people in an effort to create public awareness, provide oversight and transparency, and seek an end to corruption and mismanagement within ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).This is not an anti-Trump site (ICE employees endorsed the President), it is, however, our only means of correcting an agency that is grossly mismanaged and has no outside oversight.
The disgruntled ICE agents stress that they are not “anti-Trump” and that they believe in him and his illegal immigration agenda. What concerns them is that change within the agency has not occurred and is even being intentionally blocked by Obama-era management.
The Washington Times reports:
The country’s immigration enforcement officers launched a website Tuesday demanding President Trump do more to clean up their agency, saying he’s left the Obama team in place and it’s stymieing his goal of enforcing the laws on the books.U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement supervisors in Philadelphia banned officers from wearing bullet proof vests during an operation in the dangerous “badlands” section in the city’s north, for fear of offending the immigrant community, the new website, jicreport.com, charges.Meanwhile officers in one Utah city are required to give city officials seven days’ heads-up before arresting anyone — and by the time they go in, the migrants they’re targeting seem to have gotten a heads-up and taken off, the website says.Compiled by the National ICE Council, which represents ICE officers, the website is part whistleblower and part primal scream for Mr. Trump to pay attention to a group of people who were among his staunchest backers during last year’s campaign.“ICE Officers grudgingly admit that the only President they ever endorsed hasn’t kept his word, and many officers now feel betrayed,” the officers say on the new website.ICE Council President Chris Crane, in an open letter to Mr. Trump linked on the new website, says he finds himself regularly having to defend the president to ICE officers who backed Mr. Trump during the campaign but now feel “stab[bed] in the back” by the administration.Mr. Crane said he gives Mr. Trump the benefit of the doubt, but said those around the president — who he doesn’t name — appear to be trying to shield him from hearing about the continued struggles at ICE.“While officers view the President’s position on enforcement as courageous, the Trump administration has left all of the Obama managers and leadership in place, a group that ICE Officers know after the last eight years to be completely incompetent, corrupt and anti-enforcement,” Mr. Crane wrote.
In addition to these allegations, the ICE agents’ union website also claims that Obama loyalist ICE managers are “making deals” with city officials and providing notice of impending arrests. The result being that the illegal aliens “disappear” and cannot be apprehended.
JIC reports:
ICE Field Officers are outraged.“Trump promised to drain the swamp, but instead he left us with all these clueless, anti-law enforcement Obama people. What’s he thinking? He should be getting rid of all these Obama managers, they’re terrible,” said one ICE Officer involved.ICE Officers under the Salt Lake City Field Office of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) allege that they are under secret orders requiring them to provide the names and addresses of criminals and fugitives they seek to arrest so that prior notice can be given to city officials prior to ICE Officers entering their city and making an arrest.ICE Officers allege that they typically have to wait approximately 7 days before receiving “permission” to enter the city — Park City, Utah. Since the new policy was put in place by ICE managers, ICE Officers allege that everyone they attempt to arrest is already gone – criminals and fugitives are “magically disappearing.”
These allegations have not been substantiated, but as far as I can tell, they have not yet been investigated, either. ICE managers making “secret” deals to tip off city officials about specific pending arrests and the subsequent “magical disappearance” of said illegal aliens is something that Congress and the DOJ might find worthy of investigation. The paper trail alone must be a mile wide.
Adding to the explosive nature of this website is the president’s nomination of acting director Tom Homan to become permanent ICE director. Homan, called a “hardliner” by the mainstream media, has long held a strong public stance against illegal immigration. The reports of whistleblower ICE agents indicate that his stewardship of ICE since Obama appointee Sarah Saldaña quit in January has not, however, made any difference.
Indeed, not only is ICE still rife with Obama-era policies, but JIC claims that Homan has taken from ICE agents hundreds of vehicles that were designated for immigration enforcement and transferred these vehicles to ICE managers for their personal use and who are, as a result, enjoying taxpayer-funded vehicle maintenance and repair, even gas.
Hundreds of ICE supervisors take unmarked police vehicles provided by Congress for ICE’s law enforcement operations, and instead of utilizing the vehicles for enforcement, as the America public entrusted them to do, ICE supervisors use the vehicles for their own personal use with no mission need. It’s estimated that each ICE supervisor involved is gouging American taxpayers for approximately $5,000 annually in free fuel alone. The wealthiest of federal employees literally gave themselves a $5,000 raise without the approval Congress, or anyone else, and taxpayers are footing the bill.Estimates of the fraud, waste and abuse are staggering. With as many as 500 ICE supervisors involved, estimates indicate that taxpayers are being fleeced for up to $27.5M annually through various costs to include vehicle costs, maintenance and fuel. Fuel costs alone are estimated at $2.5M annually. While President Trump’s Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price angered the President and eventually vacated his cabinet post after spending $400k on private jets, Price spent only a fraction of the millions that ICE’s Acting Director Thomas Homan spends annually on similar travel perks for his managers.But not only are ICE supervisors taking millions from unsuspecting taxpayers every year for management perks, they’re knowingly hurting their own officers and throwing public safety aside as they rob much needed equipment from their own officers and law enforcement operations in the field. Officers report instances in which not one single vehicle is available for making arrests because all ICE enforcement vehicles in the area have been issued to supervisors for their personal use. If you can imagine a local police department not responding to 911 calls because they gave all their squad cars to supervisors to use as personal vehicles, that’s what’s happening at ICE.
Again, the paper trail on something like this is going to be tremendous; if it’s not, there’s a problem.
The ICE agents, led by union head Chris Crane, wrote a letter (embedded below) to President Trump that addresses their numerous complaints and acknowledges that the president is unlikely to know what is happening in the Obama-riddled bowels of ICE. Crane expresses frustration at being unable to contact the president directly and explains that with all other avenues exhausted, he hopes the JIC Report and the ICE agents’ whistleblower allegations will make their way to the president.
I know from the commitments you made to me that it was your intent that your staff work directly with us to address issues within ICE, but that’s not happening. Attempts to communicate concerns to you and requests for meetings with you are simply ignored. ICE managers laugh and claim that “Trump used you and threw you away like trash when he was done with you.”I assure our officers daily that the only President ever endorsed by ICE Officers has not turned his back on them, he’s simply not aware of what’s happening. Unable to penetrate your staff and communicate with you, we were left with no choice but to communicate publicly. Our new website will address problems within ICE and add transparency as we attempt to assist you in keeping your promise to America of “draining the swamp.”We hope that you will not only support our efforts but work directly with us in addressing corruption and mismanagement within the Agency.
Letter here:
ICE Letter to President Trump by Legal Insurrection on Scribd
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