Dan Coats: “a few weeks ago, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, otherwise known as ICE, initiated an unexplainable order to…”

“a few weeks ago, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, otherwise known as ICE, initiated an unexplainable order to take action to reduce the population of detained illegal aliens, and they said it was for budgetary reasons. I quote a spokesman for ICE, who said the decision was made because ``fiscal uncertainty remains over the continuing resolution and possible sequestration . . . '' Well, we have had fiscal uncertainty for 4 years now, and the decision to release these detainees was made before the sequestration even took place. The procedures put in place under the continuing resolution and the resources for covering the costs of detaining these illegal immigrants until they could be brought to trial and sent back home were put in place by the funding we provided for the agency in September, running through the end of this month, or until March 27. So a lot of questions need to be answered about ICE's decision because there was a furor over why we are releasing illegal immigrants back on the streets of America. Why are we putting these people back out on the streets when the law didn't require it? The resources were there to keep there, and yet many were released before the sequestration even took place--before the across-the-board cuts even took place--and I want to get some answers.…”