"This is another horrifying example of the consequences of failing to push the issue of deportations with uncooperative countries," said Jessica Vaughan, Director of Policy Studies for the Center for Immigration Studies. "Laos has been a problem for many years, and there are more than 3,700 criminals still here as a result, but still the State Department has not lifted a finger to take action against that government. Instead, they keep issuing visas – they gave out more than 11,000 temporary visas in the last five years in Laos, despite the requirement in federal law that they impose visa sanctions on countries that won’t take back their citizens.
Vaughan said she hopes the wounded officers will recover, and that they and Fresno County officials will ask the federal government for an explanation for why nothing has been done about this problem, and call for action before others are hurt.
By contrast, some 67,792 Mexican nationals slated for removal could not be deported and nearly 29,000 Cubans were also freed after deportation failed.
The issue made national headlines in June, when the Inspector General for the Department of Homeland Security, ICE’s parent agency, blasted the department for not doing more to ensure deportation of a Haitian national who murdered a Connecticut woman after being released from prison.
The Connecticut case prompted House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, to blast the State Department at a July hearing for not doing more to force recalcitrant countries to take back their criminals. The law states that the State Department must stop issuing visas to citizens of such countries until they cooperate with removals.
