House Speaker John Boehner has concerns about release of more than 36,000 criminal immigrants last year.
“It is a serious issue, and he certainly has concerns about it,” Boehner spokesman Michael Steel told Breitbart News Friday, in reaction to the convicted immigrant releases.
Last week a leaked Immigration and Customs Enforcement document obtained by the Center for Immigration Studies, and viewed by Breitbart News, revealed that last year ICE released 36,007 criminal immigrants, convicted of nearly 88,000 crimes and awaiting the outcome of deportation proceedings, back into the United States.
The report has Republican lawmakers outraged.
“Your Department’s actions have jeopardized the safety of Americans and raise serious concerns about its commitment to full enforcement of our immigration laws,” Texas Sen. John Cornyn wrote Wednesday in a letter to DHS Sec Jeh Johnson.
News of the report comes as Boehner faces pressure from both sides of the immigration reform spectrum, especially from those GOP lawmakers who do not trust the Obama administration to enforce future immigration laws, given what they say is a lack of current enforcement.
“[T]hat is the crux of the problem right now in the House of Representatives. We’re hesitant to pass anything, any compromise, because the president has made it clear that he won’t obey it. He’ll breach his agreement,” Alabama Republican Rep. Mo Brooks told Breitbart News Monday.
Breitbart News Washington Editor Jonathan Strong contributed reporting to this article.
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