Man Sentenced For Taking Bribes While A Senior ICE Official

According to an Associated Press story, federal district court judge Julian Abele Cook, Jr. sentenced Roy Bailey to three years and one month in prison for taking bribes while the senior official in Detroit for detaining and transporting immigrants for ICE (and for INS before it split up into new agencies including ICE). He was the senior official in Detroit from 1999 to 2004.

The newspaper reports explain that Mr. Bailey admitted accepting gifts including $5,000 in meals and $5,000 in casino chips and in exchange for bribes, he would delay deportation proceedings and release certain detainees.

We hear much about the need to crack down on fraud in the immigration process. I wonder whether people who worry about immigration fraud are exaggerating the problem, but this news story suggests perhaps there should be a reason to be concerned about fraud by immigration officials. However, just because one senior official was found guilty and sentenced to jail does not mean everyone at ICE is doing something wrong.