New York Times Editorial: Wrong Paths to Immigration Reform
Copyright by The New York Times
Published: October 11, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/12/opinion/12mon2.html?th&emc=th
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.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Sen.David Vitter offered an amendment to sever Federal funds to SANCTUARY CITIES AND STATES, but as always they failed to observe the "Rule of Law." The vote went along party lines except for three Republicans who voted with the Democrats to table the amendment. One Democrat voted against the motion - Landrieu (LA). Even though we can throw the conspirators out, when they come up for re-election it will have little effect? Even though they lose their seats, they will be reimbursed by their corporate friends with nice civilian desk jobs, with bloated pay checks.
Only if we stand together and demand E-Verify program, our uniformed police right to question and detain people of unauthorized immigration status 287 G? Hopefully next year Americans will see through the greed, in the Senate and house and start by--REMOVING--Sen. Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. Both have millions of illegal aliens living off taxpayers in California and Nevada. GO and investigate their immigration grading and every lawmaker at NUMBERSUSA website. Vote them out? WE MUST HAVE E-VERIFY AS A MANDATED LAW, SEN. HARRY REID SOLD US OUT TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER. CALL YOUR LEGISLATORS TODAY AT 202-224-3121 and give them an ULTIMATUM. Businesses that hire the millions of illegal aliens are bleeding us dry, because we pay for the health care and education and for hundreds of thousands in the prisons. Your tax dollars are paying for warm cells and California has the largest proportion of any state. MAKE ENTERING AMERICA A CLASS ONE FELONY, LIKE OTHER DEVELOPED COUNTRIES. EVEN MEXICO YOU ARE DRAGGED INTO ONE OF THOSE REPUGNANT PRISONS.
The fact is uncomplicated that E-Verify WORKS! And it is up, running and operational, so that illegal foreign workers other than a few using counterfeit documents will be discovered and eliminated from the workplace. Th Special interest lobbyists want it dropped, because it has grown in popularity and more sincere Pro-American companies are using it? Another simple fact is that its—SUCCEEDING! It is now hurting the elusive Council of Foreign Relations agenda to destabilize American workers and substitute even more cut-rate even a government agency, but a Quasi agency that is a kind of sinister think tank. For years they have been formatting their power to undo the poorly built border fence, wreck inspections at airports, so millions more can pour into American and steal jobs. Nor does matter to the illicit ACLU, a communist inspired group or business consortium's, who owe no loyalty to US workers? It is a case of drowning America in low wage recruits, who are not just working in the fields, but janitors, fast food, factories, warehouses and higher paying jobs then citizens and legal employees realize?. AMERICAN WORKERS MUST MAKE A STAND. Anybody who legally displays the E-Verify sign should get the customers dollars, those who don't comply should be absolutely BOYCOTTED. I go to El Pollo Loco, but not to McDonalds-because I haven't seen the E-Verify sign yet? Same I only try to buy AMERICAN? But that is even becoming more indefinable, because many parts of products are imported in from cheap labor countries, killing our own manufacturing base. WE ARE SELF-INFLICTING OUR OWN WOUNDS?
The same with not training our own workers and instead imported significantly more labor from other lands by the millions each year. Thus we cheat our own industries. We can beat this, by electing politicians who sign a--CONTRACT-- stating American workers come first? Not those just affirming an oath of office, since to many it's meaningless. These contracts can be published and shown to the public and the national media. We are cutting our own throats in so many ways, because many bona-fide US Americans don't bother to vote the political corruption--OUT OF OFFICE. Most of the lawmakers are out for gain, not truly there to protect the American poor, not protecting our vulnerable senior's, not even really protecting our military, if they even come home? With the health care reform as a major issue, then research you’re local, state of federal lawmaker and locate their screened interests in pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, insurance, billing companies or anything that exudes money? They are just coveting their own interests? THE AMERICAN PEOPLE HAVE THE ULTIMATE POWER, TO STOP THIS TRAVESTY OF OUR IMMIGRATION LAWS. Even our police departments are under attack by pro illegal immigrant politicians and open border crazies, which includes an old timer like Sheriff Joe Ariapo. He was following federal law called 287 G, to apprehend criminal aliens. But their all Criminals. They entered a sovereign nation without permission. Joe will thankfully carry on under state law and nothing will deter him? IT SHOULD BE MADE A FIRST CLASS FELONY AS IT IS IN DEVELOPED NATIONS.
Post a Comment