While the Department of Homeland Security and the Obama Administration have been promoting the increased number of deportations of criminal illegal aliens, a new report by the Houston Chronicle shows that they may be quietly executing a 'backdoor amnesty.' The report from the Houston Chronicle says the number of deportation cases that have been dismissed by federal judges in Houston has increased by 700% over recent months.

The Houston Chronicle conducted a review of the court docket and found that 217 immigration cases were dismissed in August up from only 27 dismissals in July.

In September, records show that 174, or 45%, of immigration cases were dismissed.In the 10 months prior to August, the Houston courts dismissed an average of 38 cases per month.

Over the summer, NumbersUSA obtained a memo drafted by senior staffers at the Department of Homeland Security that presented options available to the Administration that would allow illegal aliens living in the United States to safely remain in the country while Congress worked on a mass amnesty bill.

While the Obama Administration and DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano said the memo was never signed and never meant to be executed, the report from the Houston Chronicle shows that the Administration may be finding ways to delay deportations of non-criminal illegal aliens while it waits for passage of a mass amnesty bill.

According the Houston Chronicle, federal attorneys were given instructions by the DHS chief counsel to be more forgiving of certain illegal alien cases.

Government attorneys in Houston were instructed to exercise prosecutorial discretion on a case-by-case basis for illegal immigrants who have lived in the U.S. for at least two years and have no serious criminal history, [American Immigration Lawyers Association, Raed] Gonzalez said. To qualify for dismissal, defendants also must have no felony record or any misdemeanor convictions involving DWI, sex crimes or domestic violence, he said. -- Houston Chronicle, Oct. 17, 2010

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will no longer pursue deportation of illegal aiens who have their cases dismissed by the court.

"When you have this kind of mass dismissal, it sends a very clear message to illegal immigrants, and to society at large, that the government is not serious about enforcing the laws," said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, an organization that advocates for stricter border controls.

"This type of action muddles the message so both the public at large as well as illegal immigrants don't know what to think."

For more information, see the Houston Chronicle.