ICE Director Morton issues a prosecutorial-discretion memo to clear the immigration court backlog

ICE Director John Morton issued a memorandum on June 17, 2011 directing immigration enforcement officers to exercise prosecutorial discretion when deciding whether to pursue removal against low-priority individuals, including long-term residents, military veterans, and people brought to the U.S. as children. The memo attempted to reduce the immigration court backlog by clearing cases against people who posed no enforcement priority. Critics argued the policy was executive overreach; supporters said it was a necessary response to a court system overwhelmed by over 300,000 pending cases.