ICE agents' union wants to slow immigration overhaul

• The union has been critical of the Obama administration in the past
• Obama wants lawmakers to send him an immigration bill as soon as possible

WASHINGTON — The head of the union representing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents is calling on a bipartisan group of senators to slow down the push for an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws.

Chris Crane, the head of the National ICE Council, wrote Tuesday to the so-called "Gang of Eight" — the lawmakers trying to negotiate a deal to overhaul the nation's immigration laws — that they should hear from ICE agents before they complete their immigration proposal.

The union, which represents more than 7,000 deportation agents, has long had an uneasy relationship with the Obama administration, particularly ICE Director John Morton and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. In the letter, Crane charged the administration's leadership has undermined agents ability to enforce current immigration law.

The union has also criticized President Obama for making several administrative changes to the immigration system, including launching a program to allow some young illegal immigrants, known as "Dreamers," to avoid deportation. In the leadup to last year's election, the Obama administration also refocused enforcement efforts to target criminal immigrants and those who posed a security threat.

"Any comprehensive immigration bill would have enormous consequences for our officers and for the citizens we protect," Crane wrote in the letter obtained by USA TODAY. "One of our chief concerns is that our current political leadership, particularly Director Morton and Secretary Napolitano, have repeatedly undermined our ability to enforce duly enacted immigration law."

Crane goes on to write: "We are concerned that ICE and DHS have not been forthright with the American public regarding the criminal records of many of the aliens it released. These practices and others like them clearly place the public at risk and should be investigated thoroughly before any major immigration changes are implemented."

The letter was sent to the senators shortly after President Obama called on lawmakers on Monday to deliver an immigration package for him to sign into law soon after they return to Washington next month.

But Obama's goal of getting a bill done quickly might be hard to meet.

Last week, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee, said he doubted the committee could complete work on an immigration bill by the end of April.