Deport undocumented immigrant criminals, Obama administration told

In 2015, over 2000 undocumented immigrants were returned to the streets of the United States after completing prison sentences, with many going on then carry out more crimes, including murder and rape, Senator Charles Grassley alleged on Monday. The lawmaker’s accusation comes a week after the murder of a Connecticut woman by an undocumented immigrant was blamed on the lack of cooperation of Haiti and the Department of Homeland Security by a federal audit.

Grassley, the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, says that the Obama administration should put pressure on countries that refuse to allow their own criminals to return after being targeted for deportation. In a letter to Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson on June 27, Grassley noted that dangerous criminals end up back in American communities because their home nations refuse to take them back.

Undocumented immigrants who receive criminal convictions generally serve part or even all of their prison sentences within the United States before being sent home via diplomatic agreements. Grassley says that in 2015 around 2166 undocumented immigrant criminals were released back into the US without being deported due to either their home countries refusing to readmit them or it not even being attempted by the US government.

Around 23 countries have been given the label of being uncooperative, with China, Cuba, Ghana, India and Somalia being regarded as the worst offenders, but cooperation is strained with a further 62 nations according to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.