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The nuns have forgiven Montano. Mercy and forgiveness, the nuns say on their website, are not optional for Christians. Nearly half of the 292,663 people deported or removed by ICE through July 22 of this year were considered criminals. In 2009, 35 percent, or 136,343, of all those deported were criminals, a reflection of ICE's focus on deporting people with criminal records. Removals of non-citizens who are not criminals are below what they were at the same time last year, which has become fodder for criticism of the Obama administration. The law requires mandatory detention for immigrants who have committed certain crimes. In other cases, immigration officials have to make judgment calls on whether to release someone. In those cases, ICE considers the likelihood that the person will be a danger to the community and the likelihood the person will appear at deportation hearings, said David Leopold, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Factors they consider are ties to the community, such as whether they have family members or citizen children in the U.S.; length of time in the country; how the person entered the country; other immigration violations; and a criminal record. A judge's decision to relax a sentence also could be considered, Leopold said. Stewart criticized ICE for releasing Montano, saying the county hands immigrants over "on a silver platter" after they've been convicted of crimes "and still they release them back into communities." He's asking Congress to subpoena statistics from ICE on how many people who have committed crimes are released to the community. But Leopold dismissed the criticism, saying that no credible studies show that drunken driving is a problem particular to immigrants. "Frankly, drunk driving is a national problem which we deal with in every community," he said. The Benedictine Sisters operate several ministries, including providing transitional housing for homeless women and their children and an adult literacy project. None solely targets undocumented immigrants, Smith said in an e-mail, and the services are available to everyone. The Rule of Benedict and the Gospel of Jesus Christ "compels us to reach out to the neighbor and the stranger, to the rich and the poor, to all who may come to our door," Smith said. "I might add that Sister Denise was a model for us in this reaching out and acceptance of diverse persons and cultures." ___ Online: Benedictine Sisters of Virginia: Immigration and Customs Enforcement:
http://www.osbva.org/
http://www.ice.gov/
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