Monday, October 12, 2009

NY Times Calls for an END to Arpaio and 287(g) Programs

NY Times reports:
Wrong Path 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 (Latinos) 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.

7 comments:

Defensores de Democracia said...

Some thought pills about the Census of year 2010 - Legal and "Illegal" Immigrants, H1B Greencard Workers

I love numbers, statistics, demography, and economic matters.

So I prefer the census to be reliable and well done, even if some data can not be obtained ( How many Legals or "Illegals ).

It would be wonderful if we can have information about the Hispanics and other Immigrant Populations, Legal or "Illegal", but the Census should not be used as a tool for evictions, expulsions and progroms.

Guns have safety devices, so that the weapon is not shot accidentally. I wonder if there is a possibility of the Census triggering a big progrom. ( perhaps not with Mr Obama and the Democrats )

The Economy and Foreign Trade are also important matters and people are usually EXTREMELY IGNORANT of these numbers, and matters of trade, quotas, taxes, fees, custom duties, etc ... And they link these matters of Trade Agreements to liking or disliking Immigrants ( Legal or Illegal ).

Let's study all the Implications, Numbers, History, etc ... of Immigration, Slavery and Indentured Servants ..... and the "Safety Devices" of the Census.

And don't forget the H 1 B "greencard workers", since some people complain of abuses or explotations against these workers.

Milenials.com

Vicente Duque

ultima said...

Dee wrote, "...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..."

The use of local law enforcement to supplement federal immigration control is vital if for no other reason than the feds are stetched to the limit and are unable to do their job. This is the first thing that Napolitano has done right. We should be applauding her. Secure communities is a goal everyone should support.

ultima said...

Dee wrote, "using local police can cause immigrant crime victims to fear the police and divert the police from fighting crime."

The criteria Sheriff Joe uses to track down illegal aliens are entirely logical as proven by his results. If the feds would give him more support rather than sniping at him, he could go a long way toward ridding Maricopa County of illegals.

If a victim of a crime is a legal resident or citizen and can prove it, he should have no fear and should report all crimes of which he has knowledge including illegal aliens. That's what citizenship is all about.

ultima said...

"Programs like 287(g) rest on the dishonest premise that illegal immigrants are a vast criminal threat."

Not at all. This is a Red Herring. These programs augment the efforts of ICE to control or eliminate illegal immgration. The support of local enforcement is needed to accomplish this objective and to discharge the sworn duty of ICE. ICE is spread to thin and do not have the daily contact with miscreants that the police has.

ultima said...

A new survey by Zogby International finds that people in Mexico think that granting legal status to illegal immigrants in the United States would encourage more illegal immigration to the United States. As the top immigrant-sending country for both legal and illegal immigrants, views on immigration in Mexico can provide insight into the likely impact of an amnesty, as well as other questions related to immigration.

Among the findings:

•A clear majority of people in Mexico, 56 percent, thought giving legal status to illegal immigrants in the United States would make it more likely that people they know would go to the United States illegally. Just 17 percent thought it would make Mexicans less likely to go illegally. The rest were unsure or thought it would make no difference.


•Of Mexicans with a member of their immediate household in the United States, 65 percent said a legalization program would make people they know more likely to go to America illegally. This figure is probably understated because many would not want to state something that could reduce the probability of an amnesty.


•Two-thirds of Mexicans know someone living in the United States; one-third said an immediate member of their household was living in the United States.


•Interest in going to the United States remains strong even in the current recession, with 36 percent of Mexicans (39 million people) saying they would move to the United States if they could. At present, 12 to 13 million Mexico-born people live in the United States.


•A new Pew Research Center poll also found that about one-third of Mexicans would go to the United States if they could.


•An overwhelming majority (69 percent) of people in Mexico thought that the primary loyalty of Mexican-Americans (Mexico- and U.S.-born) should be to Mexico. Just 20 percent said it should be to the United States. The rest were unsure.


•Also, 69 percent of people in Mexico felt that the Mexican government should represent the interests of Mexican-Americans (Mexico- and U.S.-born) in the United States.

We know about these kinds of people who claim to be loyal and patriotic but are just the opposite, favoring foreign interests and the interests of their ethnocentric brethren over those of their fellow citizens.

Welcome to Mexico Norte! Where will they go when this is the reality and our country is bankrupt financially and ideally.

Defensores de Democracia said...

Racial Hatred and Domestic Terrorism in Britain - Extremists making bombs at home - Verbal Intemperance and Racist Aggression

Before the Second World War Britain had many Nazis, with their ridiculous symbols and marches, preaching racial superiority and "Aryanism". After that war Britain had extremists preaching against Immigrants, but there were few actions.

But now the level of Hatred and Terrorist Action ( bombs, aggressions ) is increasing at fast pace and this may disrupt Britain as an ordered and peaceful nation.

We want England or larger Britain to be a nation of Lords and Gentlemen and not a nation of Stupid Thugs without respect for Human Life, even babies have been hurt and pregnant women killed.


Johann Hari
Columnist, London Independent
October 14, 2009

Why Is Britain Ignoring Its Home-Grown McVeighs?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/johann-hari/why-is-britain-ignoring-i_b_320262.html


Some excerpts :

Britain is facing the real risk today of a bombing campaign that targets random civilians for death - but it is being virtually ignored. When its supporters step closer every day to mass murder, nobody notices. When its perpetrators are caught, there is (at best) a little flick of information in News in Brief, before everyone goes back to talking about the Strictly Come Dancing race row. This silence suggests something dark about us Brits - and requires us to change our behaviour, fast.

The campaign I am talking about is not being planned by jihadis or fringe Irish nationalists but by white "neo-Nazis" who want to murder Asians, black people, Jews and gays in the bizarre belief it will trigger a "race war".

They have struck before. Exactly a decade ago, a 22-year-old member of the British National Party called David Copeland planted bombs in Brixton, Brick Lane (where I live), and a gay pub in Old Compton Street. He managed to lodge a nail deep in a baby's skull, and to murder a pregnant woman, her gay best friend, and his partner. He bragged: "My aim was political. It was to cause a racial war in this country. There'd be a backlash from the ethnic minorities, then all the white people would go out and vote BNP."

Raciality.com

Vicente Duque

ultima said...

The Brits have little to fear from neo-nazis or skinheads bent on racial strife. They should be more worried about the Muslims who have already exacted a significant toll on peaceful Brits.

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