Opinion
The LAPD fights crime, not illegal immigration
The outgoing chief of police urges the department to keep focusing on community outreach.
By William J. Bratton
October 27, 2009
On March 12, Juan Garcia, a 53-year-old homeless man, was brutally murdered in an alley off 9th and Alvarado streets in the Westlake District, just west of downtown Los Angeles. At first, the police were stumped; there were no known witnesses and few clues. Then a 43-year-old undocumented immigrant who witnessed the crime came forward and told the homicide detectives from the Rampart station what he saw. Because of his help, a suspect was identified and arrested a few days later while hiding on skid row. Because the witness was not afraid to contact the police, an accused murderer was taken off the streets, and we are all a little bit safer. Stories like this are repeated daily in Los Angeles.
Keeping America's neighborhoods safe requires our police forces to have the trust and help of everyone in our communities. My nearly 40 years in law enforcement, and my experience as police commissioner in Boston and New York City and as chief in Los Angeles, have taught me this.
Yet every day our effectiveness is diminished because immigrants living and working in our communities are afraid to have any contact with the police. A person reporting a crime should never fear being deported, but such fears are real and palpable for many of our immigrant neighbors.
This fear is not unfounded. Earlier this month, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that 11 more locations across the United States have agreed to participate in a controversial law enforcement program known as 287(g). The program gives local law enforcement agencies the powers of federal immigration agents by entering into agreements with Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. Although many local agencies have declined to participate in 287(g), 67 state and local law enforcement agencies are working with ICE, acting as immigration agents.
Some in Los Angeles have asked why the LAPD doesn't participate. My officers can't prevent or solve crimes if victims or witnesses are unwilling to talk to us because of the fear of being deported. That basic fact led to the implementation almost 30 years ago of the LAPD's policy on immigrants, which has come to be known as Special Order 40. The order prohibits LAPD officers from initiating contact with someone solely to determine whether they are in the country legally. The philosophy that underlies that policy is simple: Criminals are the biggest benefactors when immigrants fear the police. We can't solve crimes that aren't reported because the victims are afraid to come forward to the police.
The idea of engaging all members of the public in reporting crime and identifying criminals not only helps us with short- and medium-term goals of reducing crime; it helps improve relations with community members. We all have an interest in helping our young people develop into healthy, educated and law-abiding adults. Breeding fear and distrust of authority among some of our children could increase rates of crime, violence and disorder as those children grow up to become fearful and distrustful adolescents and adults. That is why the Los Angeles Police Department has not participated in 287(g) and the federal government is not pressuring the department to do so.
Americans want a solution to our immigration dilemma, as do law enforcement officials across this nation. But the solution isn't turning every local police department into an arm of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The Police Foundation published a report in April titled "The Role of Local Police: Striking a Balance Between Immigration Enforcement and Civil Liberties." The report confirms that when local police enforce immigration laws, it undermines their core public safety mission, diverts scarce resources, increases their exposure to liability and litigation, and exacerbates fear in communities that are already distrustful of police.
The report concluded that to optimize public safety, the federal government must enact comprehensive immigration reform. As police chief of one of the most diverse cities in the United States, and possibly the world, I agree. As I leave my position as leader of the LAPD, I will encourage my successor to adopt the same rigid attitude toward keeping Special Order 40 and keeping the mission of the men and women of the department focused on community cooperation instead of community alienation.
Working with victims and witnesses of crimes closes cases faster and protects all of our families by getting criminals off the street. We must pass immigration reform and bring our neighbors out of the shadows so they get the police service they need and deserve. When officers can speak freely with victims and witnesses, it goes a long way toward making every American neighborhood much safer.
William J. Bratton is chief of the Los Angeles Police Department. The Police Foundation's report is available online at http://www.policefoundation.
10.21.2009
Police chiefs press for immigration reform
By Dennis Wagner, The Arizona Republic
PHOENIX — Some of the nation's top cops on Wednesday called upon Congress to promptly adopt an immigration reform measure, saying local law enforcement agencies across America are struggling to deal with crime and confusion caused by a broken system.
About 100 police chiefs and administrators from Framingham, Mass., to San Diego joined Department of Homeland Security officials in Phoenix for a National Summit on Local Immigration Policies sponsored by the Police Executive Research Forum, a nonprofit law enforcement educational organization.
During closed discussions, the participants agreed that America needs a comprehensive new law containing guest-worker programs, a means for immigrants to become permanent residents and federal enforcement of the prohibition against hiring illegal immigrants, according to Chuck Wexler, the forum's executive director.
Dennis Burke, senior adviser to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, agreed with the police chiefs.
"Congress needs to work quickly," Burke said. "Delay is not painless. Secretary Napolitano has said the situation the country is in is not defensible."
The meeting focused on the struggles of community police agencies in coping with unlawful immigration and related crime. Police administrators said Department of Homeland Security enforcement efforts have inconsistent and unreliable for years, leaving police and sheriffs agencies to establish helter-skelter policies that polarize the public.
"It's starting to tear my town apart," said Steven Carl, the chief in Framington, "especially with the economy going south. You see a hatred toward the immigrant population."
Larry Boyd, police chief in Irving, Texas, said he has been "beaten over the head" by conservative groups for not going after illegal aliens, and by Latino groups for enforcing immigration laws. "Neither side was dealing with factual information," Boyd added, "but it's an issue the media loves to cover."
Phoenix police Chief Jack Harris noted that Arizona's capital city leads the nation in kidnappings — mostly involving human-smuggling syndicates that reflect federal policy failures. "It needs to be fixed, and it needs to be done sooner rather than later," Harris said.
Alan Bersin, President Obama's border czar, assured police administrators that a transformation is underway in Homeland Security.
"There's no question that under this secretary there's been a sea change," Bersin said, adding that ICE already is focusing more on workplace violations rather than immigrant roundups. However, he concluded, enforcement is likely to remain schizoid "until there is a reform of immigration law that is acceptable to the American people."
Police administrators were especially critical of the government's so-called "287(g)" program which provides for state and local police to enforce immigration law. The program has created nationwide confusion and controversy.
Paul Lewis, an associate professor of political science at Arizona State University who recently surveyed 237 U.S. police agencies, said nearly one-fifth of the departments have a policies that eschew immigration enforcement, 28% pursue undocumented aliens to some extent, and nearly half have no immigration enforcement policy at all.
George Gascón, outgoing police chief in Mesa, Ariz., noted that 60 Maricopa County Sheriff's deputies raided his suburban City Hall and library recently, looking for undocumented workers. Gascón said only three were arrested, adding, "I have seen the ugly side of this enforcement."
Many of the chiefs stressed that state and local immigration enforcement conflicts with community policing because it makes undocumented aliens fearful of reporting crimes or serving as witnesses. They said short-sighted policies lured the estimated 11.5 million undocumented immigrants into the United States, and the enforcement debate has been oversimplified by advocacy groups.
"I think a lot of people are trying to see, well, where's the new (Obama) administration going to go with this?" added Boyd, the Irving, Texas, police chief.
PHOENIX — Some of the nation's top cops on Wednesday called upon Congress to promptly adopt an immigration reform measure, saying local law enforcement agencies across America are struggling to deal with crime and confusion caused by a broken system.
About 100 police chiefs and administrators from Framingham, Mass., to San Diego joined Department of Homeland Security officials in Phoenix for a National Summit on Local Immigration Policies sponsored by the Police Executive Research Forum, a nonprofit law enforcement educational organization.
During closed discussions, the participants agreed that America needs a comprehensive new law containing guest-worker programs, a means for immigrants to become permanent residents and federal enforcement of the prohibition against hiring illegal immigrants, according to Chuck Wexler, the forum's executive director.
Dennis Burke, senior adviser to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, agreed with the police chiefs.
"Congress needs to work quickly," Burke said. "Delay is not painless. Secretary Napolitano has said the situation the country is in is not defensible."
The meeting focused on the struggles of community police agencies in coping with unlawful immigration and related crime. Police administrators said Department of Homeland Security enforcement efforts have inconsistent and unreliable for years, leaving police and sheriffs agencies to establish helter-skelter policies that polarize the public.
"It's starting to tear my town apart," said Steven Carl, the chief in Framington, "especially with the economy going south. You see a hatred toward the immigrant population."
Larry Boyd, police chief in Irving, Texas, said he has been "beaten over the head" by conservative groups for not going after illegal aliens, and by Latino groups for enforcing immigration laws. "Neither side was dealing with factual information," Boyd added, "but it's an issue the media loves to cover."
Phoenix police Chief Jack Harris noted that Arizona's capital city leads the nation in kidnappings — mostly involving human-smuggling syndicates that reflect federal policy failures. "It needs to be fixed, and it needs to be done sooner rather than later," Harris said.
Alan Bersin, President Obama's border czar, assured police administrators that a transformation is underway in Homeland Security.
"There's no question that under this secretary there's been a sea change," Bersin said, adding that ICE already is focusing more on workplace violations rather than immigrant roundups. However, he concluded, enforcement is likely to remain schizoid "until there is a reform of immigration law that is acceptable to the American people."
Police administrators were especially critical of the government's so-called "287(g)" program which provides for state and local police to enforce immigration law. The program has created nationwide confusion and controversy.
Paul Lewis, an associate professor of political science at Arizona State University who recently surveyed 237 U.S. police agencies, said nearly one-fifth of the departments have a policies that eschew immigration enforcement, 28% pursue undocumented aliens to some extent, and nearly half have no immigration enforcement policy at all.
George Gascón, outgoing police chief in Mesa, Ariz., noted that 60 Maricopa County Sheriff's deputies raided his suburban City Hall and library recently, looking for undocumented workers. Gascón said only three were arrested, adding, "I have seen the ugly side of this enforcement."
Many of the chiefs stressed that state and local immigration enforcement conflicts with community policing because it makes undocumented aliens fearful of reporting crimes or serving as witnesses. They said short-sighted policies lured the estimated 11.5 million undocumented immigrants into the United States, and the enforcement debate has been oversimplified by advocacy groups.
"I think a lot of people are trying to see, well, where's the new (Obama) administration going to go with this?" added Boyd, the Irving, Texas, police chief.
10.13.2009
Immigration Rally, Tied to a New Bill, Draws Thousands
The New York Times
October 14, 2009
Immigration Rally, Tied to a New Bill, Draws Thousands
By IAN URBINA
WASHINGTON — Thousands of immigrants came to Capitol Hill on Tuesday for a day of lobbying and an afternoon rally calling for comprehensive immigration reform.
The event was timed to the unveiling of an immigration bill by Representative Luis V. Gutierrez, a Democrat from Illinois and the chairman of the Immigration Task Force of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
With President Obama’s stated commitment to immigration reform, advocates for immigrants said they hoped to revive a debate that has been overshadowed by other priorities, like the economy and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. As deportations continue to rise, immigration reform is needed now, they said, to allow illegal immigrants to obtain legal status and to stop families from being torn apart.
“We need a bill that says if you come here to hurt our communities, we will not support you; but if you are here to work hard and to make a better life for your family, you will have the opportunity to earn your citizenship,” Mr. Gutierrez said in a prepared statement. “We need a law that says it is un-American for a mother to be torn from her child, and it is unacceptable to undermine our workforce by driving the most vulnerable among us further into the shadows.”
Immigration reform faces a difficult road. President George W. Bush twice failed to get Congress to pass similar legislation. President Obama recently said his administration would pursue reform this year but expected no action on legislation before 2010.
Tuesday’s event was sponsored by various immigrant advocacy groups, including the Reform Immigration For America campaign, the National Capital Immigration Coalition, and Families United/Familias Unidas. It attracted convoys of buses, vans and cars carrying more than 3,000 protesters from at least 17 states.
Immigrants, religious leaders, members of Congress and immigrant advocates planned to gather on the West Lawn for speeches and a prayer vigil at 3 p.m. Similar rallies were being held in at least 20 cities around the nation, including Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Denver and Albany.
“I’m here representing the undocumented workers who cleaned Ground Zero and its surrounding area after the 9/11 terrorist attacks,” said Rubiela Arias, 43, an illegal immigrant from Colombia. She described how she came from Medellín to New York in 1998 with her 5-year-old son, seeking a safer place for her family.
“I worked for eight months cleaning the dust and debris surrounding the World Trade Center,” said Ms. Arias, who cleans offices in Manhattan and was dressed in a light-blue T-shirt with a sticker reading, “Reform Immigration for America.” “There was no question about immigration status. We were all New Yorkers; we were all Americans.”
In June, Senator Charles Schumer, Democrat from New York, announced what he called seven principles that would give form to his own reform proposal, including the need to “curtail future illegal immigration,” to have “operational control of our borders” and a “biometric-based employer verification system.” Mr. Schumer, who has been working with Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, said he would introduce a bill by Labor Day but missed that deadline.
Mr. Gutierrez’s bill, which is likely to propose less restrictive terms than Mr. Schumer’s plan for allowing illegal immigrants to become legal citizens, is partly meant to pressure his Congressional colleagues.
A main purpose of the rally was to highlight the way current immigration law splits families.
“Families deserve better than this from our government,” said Peter Derezinski, a 17-year-old high school senior and a United States citizen whose father was deported to Poland in April 2008 after 18 years as a truck driver and an air-conditioning repairman in Chicago. “We need to fix our broken immigration system so our parents who have contributed to this nation’s economy in a positive way have a chance of reuniting with their children.”
Robin Ferschke, who was traveling from Maryville, Tenn., said she planned to talk to lawmakers about changing the law so that her daughter-in-law and grandson could live legally in the United States. Ms. Ferschke’s son, Sgt. Michael Ferschke, a 22-year-old Marine radio operator, was killed in Iraq in 2008, leaving his Japanese widow and their infant son in immigration limbo.
While Sergeant Ferschke was deployed to Iraq, he learned that his girlfriend was pregnant. They decided to get married by proxy, a method that has a long history in the military when the bride and groom cannot be in the same place for a ceremony. The boy was born in Japan and holds dual citizenship.
But under a 1950s legal standard meant to curb marriage fraud, the wedding is not recognized for immigration purposes even though the military recognizes the unions.
“The laws we have now are inhumane and need to be changed,” Ms. Ferschke said. “So I came to beg lawmakers to change that and not force my daughter-in-law and my grandson to leave the country.”
October 14, 2009
Immigration Rally, Tied to a New Bill, Draws Thousands
By IAN URBINA
WASHINGTON — Thousands of immigrants came to Capitol Hill on Tuesday for a day of lobbying and an afternoon rally calling for comprehensive immigration reform.
The event was timed to the unveiling of an immigration bill by Representative Luis V. Gutierrez, a Democrat from Illinois and the chairman of the Immigration Task Force of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
With President Obama’s stated commitment to immigration reform, advocates for immigrants said they hoped to revive a debate that has been overshadowed by other priorities, like the economy and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. As deportations continue to rise, immigration reform is needed now, they said, to allow illegal immigrants to obtain legal status and to stop families from being torn apart.
“We need a bill that says if you come here to hurt our communities, we will not support you; but if you are here to work hard and to make a better life for your family, you will have the opportunity to earn your citizenship,” Mr. Gutierrez said in a prepared statement. “We need a law that says it is un-American for a mother to be torn from her child, and it is unacceptable to undermine our workforce by driving the most vulnerable among us further into the shadows.”
Immigration reform faces a difficult road. President George W. Bush twice failed to get Congress to pass similar legislation. President Obama recently said his administration would pursue reform this year but expected no action on legislation before 2010.
Tuesday’s event was sponsored by various immigrant advocacy groups, including the Reform Immigration For America campaign, the National Capital Immigration Coalition, and Families United/Familias Unidas. It attracted convoys of buses, vans and cars carrying more than 3,000 protesters from at least 17 states.
Immigrants, religious leaders, members of Congress and immigrant advocates planned to gather on the West Lawn for speeches and a prayer vigil at 3 p.m. Similar rallies were being held in at least 20 cities around the nation, including Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Denver and Albany.
“I’m here representing the undocumented workers who cleaned Ground Zero and its surrounding area after the 9/11 terrorist attacks,” said Rubiela Arias, 43, an illegal immigrant from Colombia. She described how she came from Medellín to New York in 1998 with her 5-year-old son, seeking a safer place for her family.
“I worked for eight months cleaning the dust and debris surrounding the World Trade Center,” said Ms. Arias, who cleans offices in Manhattan and was dressed in a light-blue T-shirt with a sticker reading, “Reform Immigration for America.” “There was no question about immigration status. We were all New Yorkers; we were all Americans.”
In June, Senator Charles Schumer, Democrat from New York, announced what he called seven principles that would give form to his own reform proposal, including the need to “curtail future illegal immigration,” to have “operational control of our borders” and a “biometric-based employer verification system.” Mr. Schumer, who has been working with Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, said he would introduce a bill by Labor Day but missed that deadline.
Mr. Gutierrez’s bill, which is likely to propose less restrictive terms than Mr. Schumer’s plan for allowing illegal immigrants to become legal citizens, is partly meant to pressure his Congressional colleagues.
A main purpose of the rally was to highlight the way current immigration law splits families.
“Families deserve better than this from our government,” said Peter Derezinski, a 17-year-old high school senior and a United States citizen whose father was deported to Poland in April 2008 after 18 years as a truck driver and an air-conditioning repairman in Chicago. “We need to fix our broken immigration system so our parents who have contributed to this nation’s economy in a positive way have a chance of reuniting with their children.”
Robin Ferschke, who was traveling from Maryville, Tenn., said she planned to talk to lawmakers about changing the law so that her daughter-in-law and grandson could live legally in the United States. Ms. Ferschke’s son, Sgt. Michael Ferschke, a 22-year-old Marine radio operator, was killed in Iraq in 2008, leaving his Japanese widow and their infant son in immigration limbo.
While Sergeant Ferschke was deployed to Iraq, he learned that his girlfriend was pregnant. They decided to get married by proxy, a method that has a long history in the military when the bride and groom cannot be in the same place for a ceremony. The boy was born in Japan and holds dual citizenship.
But under a 1950s legal standard meant to curb marriage fraud, the wedding is not recognized for immigration purposes even though the military recognizes the unions.
“The laws we have now are inhumane and need to be changed,” Ms. Ferschke said. “So I came to beg lawmakers to change that and not force my daughter-in-law and my grandson to leave the country.”
Comprehensive Immigration Reform Must Protect Privacy And Civil Liberties, Says ACLU
October 13, 2009
1:44 PM
ACLU
Claire O’Brien, (202) 675-2312; media@dcaclu.org
Comprehensive Immigration Reform Must Protect Privacy And Civil Liberties, Says ACLU
WASHINGTON - October 13 - Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL) will join with other House Democrats this afternoon to outline priorities for comprehensive immigration reform legislation. The American Civil Liberties Union applauds Congress’s efforts to overhaul the broken immigration system and urges leaders in Washington to work for legislation that does not sacrifice civil liberties and personal privacy.
“The ACLU is encouraged by the willingness of congressional leaders to lay out details of immigration reform, but we strongly oppose any reforms that would unnecessarily violate the privacy of Americans,” said Michael Macleod-Ball, Acting Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. “We urge lawmakers to reject any proposed immigration reform measures that include a biometric national worker ID system or a universal compulsory electronic employment verification system. These systems come at enormous cost to the American public and do little to prevent the hiring of undocumented workers. It is unacceptable to force Americans to be fingerprinted and photographed in order to work.”
The ACLU also calls on members of Congress to reject any legislation that gives state and local authorities a role in enforcing federal civil immigration laws. 287(g) agreements between the federal government and state and local law enforcement have led to racial and ethnic profiling across the country. Such agreements undermine effective law enforcement, creating an environment of fear that discourages immigrant communities from cooperating with the police. Cities and states cannot be allowed to supersede national immigration policy by enacting their own laws targeting immigrant communities.
Immigration reform legislation must also address due process failures embodied in current immigration law. Congress should pass provisions that end prolonged detention of people who pose no risk or danger; restore discretion so immigration judges can consider U.S. citizen children and spouses when rendering deportation decisions; and repeal summary procedures that deny fair immigration hearings.
“Comprehensive immigration reform must ensure American core values of due process and equal protection under the law, affording people the right to go to the federal courts to enforce the law and the Constitution,” said Joanne Lin, ACLU Legislative Counsel. “The power of courts to review the practices and policies governing implementation of legalization is essential to upholding fundamental rights, enforcing the Constitution, ensuring the rule of law and preventing bureaucratic abuses.”
1:44 PM
ACLU
Claire O’Brien, (202) 675-2312; media@dcaclu.org
Comprehensive Immigration Reform Must Protect Privacy And Civil Liberties, Says ACLU
WASHINGTON - October 13 - Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL) will join with other House Democrats this afternoon to outline priorities for comprehensive immigration reform legislation. The American Civil Liberties Union applauds Congress’s efforts to overhaul the broken immigration system and urges leaders in Washington to work for legislation that does not sacrifice civil liberties and personal privacy.
“The ACLU is encouraged by the willingness of congressional leaders to lay out details of immigration reform, but we strongly oppose any reforms that would unnecessarily violate the privacy of Americans,” said Michael Macleod-Ball, Acting Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. “We urge lawmakers to reject any proposed immigration reform measures that include a biometric national worker ID system or a universal compulsory electronic employment verification system. These systems come at enormous cost to the American public and do little to prevent the hiring of undocumented workers. It is unacceptable to force Americans to be fingerprinted and photographed in order to work.”
The ACLU also calls on members of Congress to reject any legislation that gives state and local authorities a role in enforcing federal civil immigration laws. 287(g) agreements between the federal government and state and local law enforcement have led to racial and ethnic profiling across the country. Such agreements undermine effective law enforcement, creating an environment of fear that discourages immigrant communities from cooperating with the police. Cities and states cannot be allowed to supersede national immigration policy by enacting their own laws targeting immigrant communities.
Immigration reform legislation must also address due process failures embodied in current immigration law. Congress should pass provisions that end prolonged detention of people who pose no risk or danger; restore discretion so immigration judges can consider U.S. citizen children and spouses when rendering deportation decisions; and repeal summary procedures that deny fair immigration hearings.
“Comprehensive immigration reform must ensure American core values of due process and equal protection under the law, affording people the right to go to the federal courts to enforce the law and the Constitution,” said Joanne Lin, ACLU Legislative Counsel. “The power of courts to review the practices and policies governing implementation of legalization is essential to upholding fundamental rights, enforcing the Constitution, ensuring the rule of law and preventing bureaucratic abuses.”
10.12.2009
Wrong Paths to Immigration Reform
October 12, 2009
Wrong Paths to Immigration Reform
All last week the people of Phoenix witnessed public outbursts by their sheriff, Joe Arpaio, as he railed against the Department of Homeland Security for supposedly trying to limit his ability to enforce federal immigration laws. He vowed to keep scouring Maricopa County for people whose clothing, accents and behavior betrayed them as likely illegal immigrants. He said he had already nabbed more than 32,000 people that way, and announced his next immigrant sweep for Oct. 16.
The spectacle raises two critical questions that the Obama administration is in danger of getting wrong.
One is the specific question of whether the federal government should keep Sheriff Arpaio in its 287(g) program, which deputizes local law enforcement to act as immigration agents in street patrols and in jails. The answer is absolutely not. Sheriff Arpaio has a long, ugly record of abusing and humiliating inmates. His scandal-ridden desert jails have lost accreditation and are notorious places of cruelty and injury. His indiscriminate neighborhood raids use minor infractions like broken taillights as pretexts for mass immigration arrests.
To the broader question of whether federal immigration enforcement should be outsourced en masse in the first place, the answer again is no.
It was only days ago that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano unveiled a plan to repair the rotting immigration detention system. The Bush administration had outsourced the job to state, local and private jailers, with terrible results: inadequate supervision, appalling conditions, injuries and deaths.
Ms. Napolitano wants to centralize federal control over the system that handles detainees. But she insists on continuing to outsource and expand the flawed machinery that catches them, including 287(g) and a system of jailhouse fingerprint checks called Secure Communities, which increase the likelihood that local enforcers will abuse their authority and undermine the law.
Rather than broadening the reach of law enforcement, using local police can cause immigrant crime victims to fear the police and divert the police from fighting crime. It leads to racial profiling, to Latino citizens and legal residents being asked for their papers. Responsible sheriffs and police chiefs across the country have looked at 287(g) and said no thanks.
Programs like 287(g) rest on the dishonest premise that illegal immigrants are a vast criminal threat. But only a small percentage are dangerous felons. The vast majority are those whom President Obama has vowed to help get right with the law, by paying fines and earning citizenship. Treating the majority of illegal immigrants as potential Americans, not a criminal horde, is the right response to the problem.
Wrong Paths to Immigration Reform
All last week the people of Phoenix witnessed public outbursts by their sheriff, Joe Arpaio, as he railed against the Department of Homeland Security for supposedly trying to limit his ability to enforce federal immigration laws. He vowed to keep scouring Maricopa County for people whose clothing, accents and behavior betrayed them as likely illegal immigrants. He said he had already nabbed more than 32,000 people that way, and announced his next immigrant sweep for Oct. 16.
The spectacle raises two critical questions that the Obama administration is in danger of getting wrong.
One is the specific question of whether the federal government should keep Sheriff Arpaio in its 287(g) program, which deputizes local law enforcement to act as immigration agents in street patrols and in jails. The answer is absolutely not. Sheriff Arpaio has a long, ugly record of abusing and humiliating inmates. His scandal-ridden desert jails have lost accreditation and are notorious places of cruelty and injury. His indiscriminate neighborhood raids use minor infractions like broken taillights as pretexts for mass immigration arrests.
To the broader question of whether federal immigration enforcement should be outsourced en masse in the first place, the answer again is no.
It was only days ago that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano unveiled a plan to repair the rotting immigration detention system. The Bush administration had outsourced the job to state, local and private jailers, with terrible results: inadequate supervision, appalling conditions, injuries and deaths.
Ms. Napolitano wants to centralize federal control over the system that handles detainees. But she insists on continuing to outsource and expand the flawed machinery that catches them, including 287(g) and a system of jailhouse fingerprint checks called Secure Communities, which increase the likelihood that local enforcers will abuse their authority and undermine the law.
Rather than broadening the reach of law enforcement, using local police can cause immigrant crime victims to fear the police and divert the police from fighting crime. It leads to racial profiling, to Latino citizens and legal residents being asked for their papers. Responsible sheriffs and police chiefs across the country have looked at 287(g) and said no thanks.
Programs like 287(g) rest on the dishonest premise that illegal immigrants are a vast criminal threat. But only a small percentage are dangerous felons. The vast majority are those whom President Obama has vowed to help get right with the law, by paying fines and earning citizenship. Treating the majority of illegal immigrants as potential Americans, not a criminal horde, is the right response to the problem.
10.06.2009
Agency Plans for Visa Push by Residents Made Legal
The New York Times
October 2, 2009
Agency Plans for Visa Push by Residents Made Legal
By JULIA PRESTON
Although President Obama has put off an immigration overhaul until next year, the federal agency in charge of approving visas is planning ahead for the possibility of giving legal status to millions of illegal immigrants, the agency’s director said Thursday.
“We are under way to prepare for that,” Alejandro Mayorkas, the director of the agency, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, said in an interview. Mr. Obama has told immigration officials that a legalization program would be part of legislation the White House would propose, said Mr. Mayorkas, who became director in August. The agency’s goal, he said, is to be ready to expand rapidly to handle the gigantic increase in visa applications it would face if the legislation, known as comprehensive immigration reform, passed Congress.
The citizenship agency faces a difficult balancing act, preparing for a potential workload bigger than any it has faced, based on legislation in early stages of discussion that is fiercely opposed by many lawmakers in Congress. Also, the agency must work to reduce backlogs and delays that have hampered its performance.
There are no official estimates of the number of illegal immigrants who would apply for legal documents. The Pew Hispanic Center and the Center for Immigration Studies, two research groups in Washington, estimate that at least 10.8 million illegal immigrants live in this country. But a large number of those would not be eligible for legal status for many reasons, including past immigration violations.
Currently, the citizenship agency can handle applications from about six million immigrants a year, Mr. Mayorkas said, including the time-consuming collection of fingerprints and other biometric identity information. Under some plans for legalization, the agency might receive that many applications in a few weeks.
An example of the planning, Mr. Mayorkas said, is an effort to improve the agency’s ability to receive applications via postal mail at secure reception points known as lockboxes. The agency currently receives about 65 percent of applications through lockboxes, which is more efficient than receiving them through local offices. The agency is trying to move quickly to receive all applications through lockboxes.
One idea calls for illegal immigrants to start the legalization process by verifying their presence in the United States through a simple registration form mailed to a lockbox, according to officials familiar with the planning.
As part of the planning, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Mr. Mayorkas and other officials have held meetings around the country in recent weeks to gather suggestions from the public for the overhaul.
The Obama administration’s planning contrasts with that of the Bush administration, which also supported a legalization program. Some opponents of President Bush’s proposal, which was defeated in Congress in 2007, cited the immigration agencies’ lack of preparation.
Some lawmakers who oppose the overhaul have questioned whether the planning was a good use of limited resources. “There is a risk to national security that they will take their eyes off background checks of immigrants,” said Representative Steve King of Iowa, the senior Republican on the House immigration subcommittee, “while they are busy setting up for legislation that has not been introduced in any way, shape or form.”
October 2, 2009
Agency Plans for Visa Push by Residents Made Legal
By JULIA PRESTON
Although President Obama has put off an immigration overhaul until next year, the federal agency in charge of approving visas is planning ahead for the possibility of giving legal status to millions of illegal immigrants, the agency’s director said Thursday.
“We are under way to prepare for that,” Alejandro Mayorkas, the director of the agency, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, said in an interview. Mr. Obama has told immigration officials that a legalization program would be part of legislation the White House would propose, said Mr. Mayorkas, who became director in August. The agency’s goal, he said, is to be ready to expand rapidly to handle the gigantic increase in visa applications it would face if the legislation, known as comprehensive immigration reform, passed Congress.
The citizenship agency faces a difficult balancing act, preparing for a potential workload bigger than any it has faced, based on legislation in early stages of discussion that is fiercely opposed by many lawmakers in Congress. Also, the agency must work to reduce backlogs and delays that have hampered its performance.
There are no official estimates of the number of illegal immigrants who would apply for legal documents. The Pew Hispanic Center and the Center for Immigration Studies, two research groups in Washington, estimate that at least 10.8 million illegal immigrants live in this country. But a large number of those would not be eligible for legal status for many reasons, including past immigration violations.
Currently, the citizenship agency can handle applications from about six million immigrants a year, Mr. Mayorkas said, including the time-consuming collection of fingerprints and other biometric identity information. Under some plans for legalization, the agency might receive that many applications in a few weeks.
An example of the planning, Mr. Mayorkas said, is an effort to improve the agency’s ability to receive applications via postal mail at secure reception points known as lockboxes. The agency currently receives about 65 percent of applications through lockboxes, which is more efficient than receiving them through local offices. The agency is trying to move quickly to receive all applications through lockboxes.
One idea calls for illegal immigrants to start the legalization process by verifying their presence in the United States through a simple registration form mailed to a lockbox, according to officials familiar with the planning.
As part of the planning, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Mr. Mayorkas and other officials have held meetings around the country in recent weeks to gather suggestions from the public for the overhaul.
The Obama administration’s planning contrasts with that of the Bush administration, which also supported a legalization program. Some opponents of President Bush’s proposal, which was defeated in Congress in 2007, cited the immigration agencies’ lack of preparation.
Some lawmakers who oppose the overhaul have questioned whether the planning was a good use of limited resources. “There is a risk to national security that they will take their eyes off background checks of immigrants,” said Representative Steve King of Iowa, the senior Republican on the House immigration subcommittee, “while they are busy setting up for legislation that has not been introduced in any way, shape or form.”
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