No criminal convictions” doesn’t mean “sanctuary cities released criminals.” ICE’s published detention stats (as analyzed by Kocher #1407299) suggest most recent detention growth is people without criminal convictions. You can argue they should be deported, but it’s misleading to frame this as “violent criminals first.”

And yes: immigration courts sit inside DOJ (executive branch), which is why safeguards matter more, not less. DOJ has argued that because immigration judges are Article II “inferior officers,” Title VII/EEO doesn’t provide a remedy for their removal #1297530, which means fairness depends on who’s in charge, not structural guarantees. That’s why drift from criminal enforcement to category enforcement is ominous.