Republican Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert is proposing decreasing the salary of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) appointee who worked for a group that advocates against deporting migrant children to $1 as part of a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations bill.
Boebert proposed an amendment to the bill to decrease the salary of ICE Assistant Director for the Office of Immigration Program Evaluation Claire Trickler-Mcnulty, who was Regional Director for Legal Services at Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), which helps illegal migrant children fight deportation, a recent Daily Caller News Foundation review of her bio and previous work found. While at ICE, Trickler-McNulty has expanded social services and programs that monitor illegal immigrants outside of the detention setting.
“The Biden Administration has hired a staunch supporter of illegal immigration for a senior-level position within the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Claire Trickler-McNulty, ICE Assistant Director for the Office of Immigration Program Evaluation, advocates for open borders and is implementing policies that encourage illegal entry,” Boebert said in a statement to the DCNF.
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“She is undermining ICE from within and threatening our national security. In response to her actions, I’ve taken action by invoking the Holman Rule to reduce Claire Trickler-McNulty’s salary to just $1. While even a dollar may seem too generous for someone actively contributing to the border crisis, it represents a crucial step in holding unelected officials like her accountable,” Boebert added.
KIND has also received funding from left-wing megadonor George Soros’ Open Society Foundations and the Vera Institute of Justice, which advocates against immigration detention and has labeled federal immigration enforcement authorities a “threat to civil liberties,”
“She created a position for herself and is effectively the top person running immigration at ICE. Career staff in ICE’s policy shop have been largely sidelined and are barely participating in the development of policies,” former ICE Chief of Staff during the Trump Administration Jon Feere recently told the DCNF of Trickler-McNulty.
“The same is true of ICE officers running various operational divisions — instead of being viewed as subject matter experts who can provide ideas and guidance, they’re made aware of policies only after policy drafts are in their near-final form. My assumption is that these policies are largely written by outside, anti-ICE organizations and then distributed by their allies and former colleagues now working inside the White House, DHS, and ICE,” Feere added.
ICE has been expanding its “Alternatives to Detention” (ATD) program, which is used to monitor illegal migrants released into the country, under the Biden administration. There were roughly 83,000 in the ATD program by the end of fiscal year 2019 and roughly 85,000 by the end of fiscal year 2020, according to ICE data.
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After President Joe Biden took office, ATD enrollment jumped to more than 136,000 in fiscal year 2021, according to ICE data. In fiscal 2022, it climbed to 322,000. As of late August, there were roughly 195,000 individuals enrolled in the program.
Under the Biden administration, ICE has also expanded social services for illegal immigrants through “case management” programs that provide services that include mental health support and legal orientation services, according to the agency.
During a September 2021 webinar entitled “From Immigrant Detention to a More Effective U.S. Immigration Custody System,” Trickler-McNulty discussed a shift within the agency away from detaining illegal migrants.
“I’ve seen it in different areas within the agency that sometimes with change there’s sort of a lot of resistance up front, but then as it sort of weaves into the agency culture, different things can be embraced in different ways and so I think a lot of it is just education, training, persistence and making sure that we’re really making alternatives on the table and part of the assessment and analysis going forward,” Trickler-McNulty said.
The amendment has been submitted, but not yet passed by the House Rules Committee.
ICE and Boebert didn’t immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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