Same DHS That Used Sequester Cuts to Justify Release of Thousands of Illegal Immigrant Prisoners, Recently Purchased 2,700 Light-Armored Vehicles

Last week the Department of Homeland Security ordered ICE to release 2000 illegal immigrant detainees.

As the Obama Administration spun nightmare scenarios over the impact of sequester cuts, it was revealed that Homeland Security had released from custody illegal immigrants who were charged with crimes. The White House said these actions were taken in expectation of the looming cuts, but dismissed concerns, saying just “a few hundred” criminals were released. The Associated Press, however, reported late Friday that 2,000 detainees had been released, with another 3,000 planned to be released this month.

Although she would later claim that she had no part in the decision to release the prisoners, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano blamed  the sequester cuts for the need to reduce their numbers.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano foreshadowed the announcement earlier in the day at a press briefing. She said ICE “will be forced” under sequestration to reduce detention and removal of undocumented immigrants.

“All I can say is, look, we’re doing our very best to minimize the impacts of sequester,” Napolitano told reporters at the White House. “But there’s only so much I can do. I’m supposed to have 34,000 detention beds for immigration. How do I pay for those?”

I don’t know – the same way you paid for 2,700 light armored vehicles and the more than 1.6 billion bullets?

Lachlan Markay of The Washington Free Beacon reported DHS is actually flush with cash:

According to the White House Office of Management and Budget, DHS is slated to finish the year with more than $9 billion in unobligated funds.

Critics of ICE’s detainee release rejected the budget constraint explanation. Some suggested the administration was using detainee releases to accentuate the supposedly catastrophic effects of the sequester.

If this president is ordering the release of prisoners to scare the American public about sequestration and force the Republicans’ hand  – that’s not just your typical Chicago style hardball – that’s a borderline impeachable offense.  If it was done to grant a defacto amnesty to the detainees – that should be an impeachable offense. Republicans should be investigating, and heads should be rolling over this. Instead, surprise – surprise – they’re capitulating.

And what the hell are all the bullets and armored vehicles for?

UPDATE:

The Truth About the DHS’s MRAPs:

Here’s the 411 from the official spokesman for Das Vaterland. I mean, Homeland . . .The MRAPs were transferred to DHS from the Department of Defense, free of charge. But despite recent reports, they have actually been in service since at least 2008.

“The MRAPs we have are not new,” Ross Feinstein, a spokesman for DHS, told Business Insider. “We have been using them for years.”

“[The vehicle] is used in the execution of high-risk warrants — including drug trafficking, smuggling, and contraband,” Feinstein told Business Insider. “We have 16 MRAPs nationwide.”

Linked by Doug Ross, thanks!