Grassley blasts ICE for releasing criminal immigrants

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) blasted the Obama administration for releasing illegal immigrants convicted of violent crimes into the U.S.

“The public needs to know when a person is in the country illegally, and who has been convicted of a homicide, is released into their communities,” Grassley said on Thursday.

{mosads}Grassley’s comment came after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) informed him that last year it released 169 immigrants in the country illegally who had been convicted of a “homicide-related” offense.

Grassley has co-sponsored legislation that aims to close this “catch and release” practice. The bill would close the legal loophole created by the U.S. Supreme Court in Zadvydas v. Davis that allows authorities to release any immigrant who hasn’t been accepted for deportation to another country after six months of detention.

“We’ve introduced legislation that would reverse the court case that the Obama administration is relying on to excuse its irresponsible release of thousands of criminally convicted aliens,” Grassley said.

This latest development came after the administration released information confirming that in 2013, more than 36,000 illegal immigrants who had been convicted of other crimes had been released.