Congress Is ‘Setting Us Up For Failure’: Acting ICE Director On Deportation Actions

Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Matthew Albence told reporters Tuesday that Congress is setting the agency up for failure as it tries to enforce targeted enforcement actions.

Albence spoke during a teleconference call with reporters to discuss the recent ICE operations that are targeting 2,000 illegal immigrants with deportation orders. ICE arrested 35 individuals in what Albence said is “just the beginning of the operation.”

Eighteen of the arrests were family members who had court-ordered removal orders and ICE targeted for deportation. Seventeen were arrests made collaterally, Albence told reporters Tuesday. He noted the situation is a “public safety crisis” and said that issues with Congress have made the situation more difficult.

“There’s not just a humanitarian crisis,” Albence said. “There’s a public safety crisis — it’s a border security crisis. … Congress is kind of setting us up for failure on some of these issues.”

The “individuals could be anywhere in the country” and ICE has been pushing Congress regarding the “inability to detain” family units, he said.