UNLAWFUL

ICE Agents Forged Signatures, Skipped Review to Keep Migrants Detained: Report

CNN turns up emails and records across five states showing officers often cut corners to keep migrants in custody.

A CNN investigation into the contested firing of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation officer turned up evidence of forgery and cut corners on arrest and deportation warrants. Brent Oxley in Little Rock, Arkansas, was fired last May for forging his supervisor’s signature on arrest warrants for undocumented immigrants and other charges. He contested his dismissal, insisting he was not alone in cutting corners when it came to arresting and deporting undocumented migrants. CNN reports it discovered that many agents were given pre-signed warrants and that a number of officers skipped the review process mandated by U.S. law to begin the deportation process. “There’s zero review,” one officer told CNN. “They trust me and everybody on my team. They don’t review any of it. [The warrants] are only reviewed when [the detainees] are already in our custody and we place the files in front of them.” ICE spokesman Vincent Picard told CNN the agency was “not aware of any widespread confusion or instances of improperly issued warrants.”

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