Gangbanger Charged With Murder, Drug Crimes Gets Obama Amnesty

In the latest scandal to rock President Obama’s controversial executive amnesty initiative, a known gang member charged with murder and drug-related crimes was shielded from deportation under the administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

The illegal immigrant’s name is Emmanuel Jesus Rangel-Hernandez and he was in the process of being deported when U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) shielded him from removal under DACA, even though the agency knew he was a member of a violent street gang. USCIS was also aware that Rangel-Hernandez had been arrested in 2012 for possession of drugs but rubber-stamped his amnesty petition anyways last August.

Earlier this year, months after our commander-in-chief granted him amnesty, the 19-year-old gangbanger was charged with four counts of first-degree murder in connection with a three-day shooting spree in Charlotte, North Carolina. One of the victims was a model who appeared in a popular reality television show, according to a local news report that confirms authorities knew Rangel-Hernandez was listed in a federal database as a gang member when they approved his amnesty. Under DACA illegal immigrants are also rewarded with work permits.

This month the Homeland Security agency implementing Obama’s massive amnesty program admitted that the gangbanger’s “DACA request and related employment authorization should not have been approved.” Americans would never know about this egregious case if it weren’t made public by a federal lawmaker who demanded answers from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The legislator, Iowa Senator Charles Grassley, chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee and has long expressed concern about how individuals who are allowed to remain in the U.S. under Obama’s deferred action are vetted. Earlier this year the senator pressed USCIS for information related to the process and, specifically, about Rangel-Hernandez.

A few days ago the agency responded by admitting that it erroneously shielded Rangel-Hernandez from deportation considering his criminal history and gang ties. In a letter to Senator Grassley, USCIS Director Leon Rodriguez writes that “based upon the derogatory information in the background check, the outcome of the resolution process and final decision did not comply with USCIS policy.” The agency’s Background Check Unit (BCU) should deny consideration of DACA for a known street gang member, the letter confirms, further stating that “given the fact that the individual was identified as a known gang member, his request should have been denied by the adjudicator.”

But it wasn’t denied and that creates many questions about the process. It’s bad enough that the administration is rewarding millions who have entered the country illegally with all sorts of benefits, but now we must wonder how many dangerous criminals are benefitting from this broad amnesty. The newspaper report cited above says that federal authorities have since found 13 other cases in the same crime database of people who were approved for protection from deportation. This means that, more than likely, there are a lot more. Unfortunately, the public may never hear about them until they commit a serious crime.