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Immigration Law

: Greg Siskind's Blog

ICE REFERS OBAMA AUNT MATTER TO GENERAL INSPECTOR

By Greg Siskind

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By now you've probably heard about Barack Obama's half-aunt who was revealed to be living illegally in Boston since the denial of her asylum petition four years ago. The Obama campaign released a statement yesterday indicating they had no knowledge of the aunt's status and that he had not spoken with her in over two years. Another aspect of the story that has gotten less attention is that an ICE official leaked the private information to the media.

Congressman John Conyers, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee (which includes the Immigration Subcommittee) was angered by the leak and fired off this letter to DHS Secretary Chertoff:

Dear Mr. Chertoff:

I was startled to read in today's Associated Press that a "federal law enforcement official" has leaked information about an immigration case involving a relative of Senator Obama. Even more troubling, the AP reports that it could not "could not establish whether anyone at a political level in the Bush administration or in the McCain campaign had been involved," a very disturbing suggesting indeed. This leak is deplorable and I urge you to take immediate action to investigate and discipline those responsible.

I note that this is not the first leak of law enforcement information apparently designed to influence the coming Presidential election -- in recent weeks law enforcement sources leaked information about an alleged investigation of a community services organization, a leak that the Department of Justice informs me is now under investigation by the Department's Office of the Inspector General and Professional Responsibility.

Such leaks are deeply harmful to the political process, and the American people expect and deserve better from their government and its law enforcement agencies.

Sincerely,

John Conyers, Jr.

Ben Smith at Politico reports that ICE is now investigating. According to ICE press secretary Kelly Nantel:

Early this morning, the matter was refered to Inspector General and ICE's Office of Professional Responsibility for action. They are looking into whether there was a violation of policy in publicly disclosing individual case information.

Full post as published by Greg Siskind's Blog on November 02, 2008 (boomark / email).