Cruz puzzled, insulted at COFA info

by Ken Quintanilla

Guam - It was earlier this year when Vice Speaker BJ Cruz met with officials from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office over the deportation laws under the Compacts of Free Association law. During that meeting, the feds had indicated they were unaware of laws they are supposed to enforce. However, according to Cruz, new information from the Department of Homeland Security indicate information relayed in January was incorrect leaving him not only feeling puzzled but insulted.

"And the Washington office said 'no" they had been having discussions with (San Francisco District Director Timothy) Aiken since 2010, he knew about this and he knew that the legal office had made a determination that they were not going to ever do a removal under (Section) 214 that they believed the ninth circuit would not approve it and to do it will be like "walking into a rusty bear trap" and would be a waste of precious legal resource," he said.

Section 214 is part of the COFA regulations that allows ice to remove individuals who had not been gainfully employed for 60 days. Cruz has written a letter to Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo to address ICE's ongoing disregard of the law and its many costs to our communities. Cruz says he will be working with the governor's chief policy advisor Arthur Clark on the next step of action.