Joe Biden Expected to Roll Back Deportations for Illegal Alien Drunk Drivers, Assailants

President Joe Biden’s administration is expected to roll back deportations starting this week for illegal aliens who have been convicted of drunk driving, simple assault, and a number of drug crimes.

Internal communications reviewed by the Washington Post, and nearly confirmed by White House press secretary Jen Psaki, details how the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency under Biden’s direction will not prioritize deportations for illegal aliens convicted of a number of crimes, all of which have American victims.

The Post reports:

Agents will no longer seek to deport immigrants for crimes such as driving under the influence and assault, and will focus instead on national security threats, recent border crossers and people completing prison and jail terms for aggravated felony convictions. [Emphasis added]

“Generally, these convictions would not include drug based crimes (less serious offenses), simple assault, DUI, money laundering, property crimes, fraud, tax crimes, solicitation, or charges without convictions,” acting director Tae Johnson told senior officials in a Thursday email advising them on how to operate while new guidelines are finalized. [Emphasis added]

…

The draft guidelines are awaiting approval by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who was confirmed by the Senate on Tuesday. [Emphasis added]

The internal emails sent to ICE agents suggests illegal aliens are only considered threats to the public if they are convicted of aggravated felonies, can be proven to be gang members, or have a history of violence.

In cases where an illegal alien’s aggravated felony is 10 years old, though, ICE agents will not prioritize their arrest or deportation. Similarly, an illegal alien’s gang tattoos will no longer be enough to classify their affiliation with a gang and thus, they will not be a priority.

“Is the Biden administration really saying that drunk driving isn’t a public safety threat?” former acting ICE Director Thomas Homan asked, speaking to Breitbart News. “Tell that to the Angel Moms whose children were killed by illegal alien drunk drivers.”

Also part of the new guidelines expected this week is a provision forcing agents to get approval from acting ICE Director Tae Johnson to make arrests of any illegal aliens who are not in prisons or jails. As part of that approval process, agents would have to justify to Johnson why the illegal alien should get priority for arrest and deportation.

“It’s designed to slow the process,” Homan said of the guideline.

For context, ICE arrests tens of thousands of illegal aliens every year who are convicted of have pending charges for crimes like drunk driving, assault, drug possession, and fraud. In 2019, for example, illegal aliens arrested by ICE had more than 74,500 convictions or charges involving drunk driving, more than 68,000 charges or convictions of traffic offenses, nearly 46,000 charges or convictions for assault, and more than 12,000 charges or convictions for fraud.

Under Biden’s new guidelines, most of these illegal aliens would not be prioritized for arrest or deportation and thus allowed to remain in the United States. Even if any of these illegal aliens would fit the criteria for arrest and deportation, their arrest would have to be approved by the Acting ICE Director if they are no longer in prison or jail.

“I knew they would move left but I didn’t think they would move to such an incompetent position,” Homan said. “These people are here in violation of federal law. You’re telling ICE to ignore that.”

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com.