The Obama White House firmly denies any involvement in the release of hundreds of detained illegal immigrants, but Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar says that’s preposterous and that the move was done to inflict punishment for Obama not getting his way on sequestration.
According to White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, the decision to release several hundred allegedly low-risk illegals was made entirely by officials at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and was done because of looming budget cuts related to the sequestration spending cuts.
Does Rep. Gosar believe that?
“Absolutely not. This just shows the pattern of do-and-deny that this administration does over and over again. We saw it in Fast and Furious. We also saw it in the horrific acts of Benghazi. So here’s number three. Three’s a charm. We need to wake up and understand how this administration rolls,” said Gosar.
The congressman then elaborated on why he believes the administration would consciously release criminals as the first response to a budget tightening.
“This was to create hysteria in which to get the public behind their mantra of increasing taxes and doing it the president’s way in sequester. This shows the lack of leadership by this president and this administration for accountability and responsibility,” said Gosar. “When you look at our core functions as a federal government is security and protection. Boy, I certainly hope that none of these people that are released create a crime that cost a citizen both injury to themselves, their life or their property.
“This is absolutely horrific. It’s like taking page out of Fidel Castro’s playbook, dumping people out on the streets egregiously,” said Gosar.
The congressman believes another factor is at work in this decision as well. Like Gov. Jan Brewer, Gosar believes the president is still bitter at Arizona officials over the immigration fight between the state and the Obama administration.
“I find it kind of interesting and very offensive that once again this administration targets Arizona again as one of its foremost states to pick on,” said Gosar. “We have additional responses by this administration by rules and regulations and administrative rulings that (designate) Arizona as their evil stepchild.”
The Obama administration insists the released illegals do not pose a criminal risk, are still being monitored and are still on schedule to be deported. Gosar isn’t convinced.
“First of all they didn’t know and now they do know? Give me a break. The bureaucracy of DHS is just horrifically riddled with oversight balloons and potholes,” said Gosar.
Gosar is a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and promises the panel will investigate this thoroughly, although he’s not holding out much hope for cooperation from the Obama administration.
“Absolutely. This is part of our job, part of our detail. And I’m sure that the administration, like they did in Fast and Furious, in Benghazi as well as other things like Solyndra. They’ll show us contempt by not giving us the proper details and information that we should have access and proper access to,” said Gosar.
According to Gosar, the decision to release illegals shed some light onto how President Obama really views the looming immigration reform debate.
“The president probably doesn’t want to have an immigration policy and get this broken policy fixed because he keeps intruding and stirring the pot so that we don’t come to a creative solution that defines a good, secure immigration policy,” said Gosar.