President Obama’s immigration enforcement officials have created a Public Advocate to help prioritize certain types of deportation cases above others and be a “point of contact” for people involved in immigration proceedings, as well as third party groups.
“As our first Public Advocate, Andrew Lorenzen-Strait will work to expand and enhance our dialogue with the stakeholder community,” Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton said in a statement. ICE explained that “Lorenzen-Strait will serve as a point of contact for individuals, including those in immigration proceedings, NGOs and other community and advocacy groups, who have concerns, questions, recommendations or other issues they would like to raise.”
Lorenzen-Strait reports to the Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations. ICE said that, among other things, he would help “ensure discretion is used in deciding the types of individuals ICE prioritizes for removal from the country.”
Here’s the summary of the Public Advocate’s responsibilities:
- Assisting individuals and community stakeholders in addressing and resolving complaints and concerns in accordance with agency policies and operations, particularly concerns related to ICE enforcement actions involving U.S. citizens;
- Informing stakeholders on ERO policies, programs, and initiatives and enhance understanding of ERO’s mission and core values;
- Engaging stakeholders and building partnerships to facilitate communication, foster collaboration, and solicit input on immigration enforcement initiatives and operations; and
- Advising ICE leadership on stakeholder findings, concerns, recommendations, and priorities as they relate to improving immigration enforcement efforts and activities.
