By Brian Wright | Casa Grande Dispatch
A congressional investigation into the release of detainees by Immigration and Customs Enforcement was announced at a Wednes- day press conference by Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu.
More than 2,000 illegal immigrant detainees have been released across the nation by ICE, including several hundred in Pinal County, Babeu wrote a letter to U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif. Issa is chairman of the House Government and Oversight Reform Committee. Babeu’s letter requests a congressional investigation into the matter. He said Issa granted the request and announced Congress will start an investigation.
“That’s something that’s welcome by me and not just people in Arizona but from around the country,” Babeu said of the investigation. “We need answers for this, and what I’m afraid is going to happen is you’re going to see citizens that are victimized by these criminals.”
There are several reasons Babeu said the situation poses a threat to the public. Those include that the detainees are not ready to reintegrate into the population because they haven’t gone through social service preparation for release; because they don’t have the ability to get a job; and because some of them are dangerous and violent criminals.
Babeu said the Department of Homeland Security, which runs ICE, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and President Barack Obama claim the released detainees are low- risk or nonviolent offenders.
