Crime Victims and Witnesses Are Collateral Damage of “Secure Communities”
by Hugh Holub on Aug. 27, 2011, under atf, immigration law reform, politicsFrom AmericasVoice.org:
Immigration Experts: Crime Victims and Witnesses Are Collateral Damage of “Secure Communities”
New Report, Outcry from Public Show How this and Other Programs Have Hindered Crime-Fighting and Destroyed Community Trust
Washington, DC – Local and national immigration experts spoke on a call with reporters to relate stories and highlight concerns that Secure Communities and other police-immigration collaboration efforts are destroying the relationship between police and immigrants and making communities across the country less safe. The federal Secure Communities (S-Comm) program has come under fire from law enforcement, elected officials, and immigrant advocates from across the country for its lack of focus and dangerous impacts on community security. Tonight, the Arlington, VA community will speak out about this damaging program in the final field hearing of Department of Homeland Security Secure Communities Task Force. The Task Force is a non-governmental body convened by DHS to examine the program and make recommendations to improve it.
During the press call, America’s Voice Education Fund (AVEF) released a new report, “Public Safety on ICE: How Do You Police a Community That Won’t Talk to You?”, documenting how immigration enforcement by local police creates a “chilling effect” in immigrant communities, making victims and witnesses of crimes afraid to get help from cops who might deport them. The report includes cases from community advocates and law enforcement officials, demonstrating that the “chilling effect” is being felt in communities around the country as a result of Secure Communities and other policies that blur the distinction between local police and federal immigration agents.
Lynn Tramonte, Deputy Director of America’s Voice Education Fund, who moderated the call, said, “We want criminals to be afraid of the police, not immigrants. Programs that involve state and local police in immigration enforcement—like S-Comm, 287(g), inherent authority, and state laws—are destroying the relationship between police and the immigrant community. These programs violate the core principles of community policing, because they make immigrants afraid of having any contact with the police. This means immigrants are less likely to report crimes, more criminals go free, and entire communities are less safe.”
Alexsa Alonzo, Associate Director of Advocacy for the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said “Using local law enforcement efforts as a gateway to immigration enforcement erodes immigrant communities’ trust in the police and local governments and makes us less safe. Police are perceived as no longer just protecting public safety but also as enforcing immigration law.”
“Fear of police in immigrant communities along the U.S.-Canada border is palpable and only heightened by Border Patrol’s increased collaboration with local law enforcement,” said OneAmerica Policy Director, Ada Williams Prince. “Put simply, immigrants stop calling the police during emergencies when they know that Border Patrol will follow close behind.”
Marisa Vertrees, Social Justice Coordinator of St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Arlington, has been working with members of the community to prepare for tonight’s Task Force hearing. Like earlier field hearings in Dallas, TX; Los Angeles, CA; and Chicago, IL, the Arlington hearing will no doubt demonstrate the level of frustration and fear that Secure Communities has caused in immigrant communities. Arlington County has been trying to opt-out of the program, but has been unable to do so because of the federal government’s mandate that all cities and states participate.
According to Vertrees: “Through our work with the immigrant community, we in the faith community have seen the harm that local enforcement does to the community. Tonight at the hearing we will bring forward the stories we have heard from families who have been torn apart by overly aggressive enforcement programs, as well as immigrants, both documented and not, who are now afraid to deal with the police and are forced to live in the shadows. And because for the first and only time translation services will be available at the hearing, the Task Force will have the chance to hear these stories from the immigrant community themselves. We hope that bringing forward what we have seen will convince the administration to end the deeply flawed Secure Communities program.”
- Link to New Report: Public Safety on ICE: How Do You Police a Community That Won’t Talk to You?
- Link to Recording of Today’s Press Call: http://americasvoiceonline.org/page/-/americasvoice/audio/Scomm_aug24_2011.mp3
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COMMENTARY: As the former City Attorney of a border city I can speak first hand to the problem of crime victims being afraid of reporting being victimized when the consequences are deportation.
Just because someone entered the country illegally does not take away their basic human rights….but the way our system has worked the result has been to create an underclass of people who can be the targets of criminals with no consequences because the victims cannot report the crimes.
The real solution is to find a way to legalize the existing illegal immigrant community…my recommendation is “probationary preserce”, tighten up the border to stop further illegal entery, create a worker visa program, and really crack down on drug smugglers.
Alas…there is too much poilitical gain in the status quo….
and if the prosecutorial discretion being used by the Obama Administration is a form of amnesty…well what is the alternative? ICE totally blew it trying to jack up their statistics by deporting crime victims. Dumbass plan…just like ATF’s dumbass gun walking scheme.
Obama’s Adminustrration has been a disaster for progress on securing our border and immigration reform because Obama’s leaders at DHS, Border Patrol, ICE and ATF have not played straight, have lied, have manipulated statistics…and are getting caught.
None of this makes anyone want to trust the feds with broad scale immigration law reform.
August 27th, 2011 on 8:46 am
“Immigrant Communities” that harbor and aid the influx of illegal immigrants are themselves lawless. Individuals who are naturalized citizens can be deprived of their citizenship and deported if they enter into criminal conspiracies. The deportation of “lucky” Luciano for his mafia connections is a well know example. Rather than pandering and decrying the effect that swift enforcement of the law has on such communities, they should be chastised and reminded that they have sworn an oath to obey the laws of the united states and that they should not be tolerating the presence of illegal aliens in their neighborhoods. They know these people are their and they should be voluntarily turning them in for deportation. They owe some loyalty in return for the economic opportunities and security they derive from this membership in our society.
August 27th, 2011 on 9:57 am
“America’s Voice” is just another cheap labor-pimping outfit run by the notorious radical left-winger and craven traitor Frank Sharry. The cackling broad on the audio clip isn’t referring to “immigrants,” but ILLEGAL ALIENS, and illegal aliens are criminals and parasites, one and all. Practically everything they do on U.S. soil is lllegal. They need to be ferreted out, rounded up like cattle, punished for their numerous crimes, then booted back to whence they snuck in from with such extreme prejudice that they will never, ever think of violating our sovereignty again. Build a wall and deport ‘em all. Enough is enough. See http://qr.net/dirtbags
August 27th, 2011 on 10:36 am
What is President Obama next assault on America, relating to illegal Immigration?Congress may be on vacation, but the American worker should be in full crisis mode! After an atrocious fight under the rotunda about the debt ceiling, the majority of Congressional leaders left Capitol Hill thinking their work for the summer would be over. But after that, the Obama Administration announced the postponement of practically ALL deportations of non-violent illegal aliens already ordered by U.S. immigration courts.Think this is bad? Well it gets even worse!Not merely will the President let these 300,000 illegal aliens disregard their deportation orders, he is beginning to give these illegal aliens work visas to compete with U.S. workers! That’s right! These 300,000 (and possibly more!) illegal aliens will not be returning to their home countries, even though a U.S. judge had ordered them to leave. Instead, they will be handed a free pass and perhaps a work visa to compete with 22 million Americans who cannot find full time work. The quickest and surest way to discourage President Obama’s minions from carrying out this plan is public outrage. By Channeling public feeling into constructive political action is what we do. If anyone can keep pressure on Obama, it’s NumbersUSA. HELP US!!! Go to the “American Patrol “website and see the news that Democrats and the left don’t want you to see?According to “American Patrol” Web site, almost one million illegal immigrants cross into the U.S annually. Illegally aliens flow easily through Arizona, while the Obama government claims it has build more than 300 miles of fencing on the 400-mile Arizona-Mexico border. A large part is ineffective, being vehicle barriers or discounted fencing. A map and photographs of the Arizona border fence is available here. Glenn Spenser of American Patrol asked, ”How far have we sunk as a nation when a small border state in the midst of a recession has to ask for donations to protect itself against an invasion that is sponsored in part by the President of the United States?” He explained that Arizona is collecting donations to build a fence along its border with Mexico, which is outrageous.One of the distressing things about this is that Obama frequently stated in recent months that he would NOT force any type of immigration rule on his own “without the consent or passage by Congress.” This new policy proves Mr. Obama’s previous law-abiding propaganda to be deceptive at best. He was unable to jostle an illegal alien amnesty through Congress, so he just structured a temporary one by fiat. This is an attack on the Rule of Law and our Constitution. Don’t you agree?Only Congress and the general public can undo this misconduct now. We have to let loose every weapon in our political arsenal in rolling back this Amnesty. NumbersUSA will send out millions of free faxes and make thousands of telephone calls. We must lobby Congress to keep them up to date! The public also can bombard their Senate and Congressional representatives through the Washington switchboard at 202-224-3121The Administration timed its new amnesty policy to take effect during August, when Congress is out of session and the news media was sidetracked or simply ignored this disturbing issue. Sure enough, this is another amnesty that has flown under the radar of most media outlets. Six other small amnesties also were enacted silently while the press looked the other way after the 1986 immigration law. How many of your local newspapers, TV stations, or favorite blogs have reported this story?We all know that the open borders, businesses lobbyists, churches, unions have scolded Obama at every turn for increasing deportations (which the American population have asked him for). But just now, when zero-tolerance deportations are starting to have an impact, he turns his back on law enforcement. And in doing so, he is shrugging his shoulder on the American people. The President took an oath to follow the law — not capsize the laws. The American people can stop this by screaming the loudest. Obama will not follow through with this policy if the America person rises up and yells bloody murder.This is the time to empty the overcrowded classrooms, full with the children of illegal aliens. Give hospitals breathing space and saving billions of dollars from uninsured illegal immigrants, who knowingly enter by foot, vehicle, aircraft or boat into the United States. Entering illegally is a violation of our national sovereignty and it should be a felony, for anybody who knowingly breaks the rules, including businesses who hire them. Start the Attrition by enforcement programs such as E-Verify, Secure Communities and support Arizona, Alabama, Georgia, Utah and States nationwide that have no choice but to restrict illegal immigrants through police laws as their welfare programs are being sucked dry.Frightened illegal nationals are bypassing Arizona and loading their possessions, heading for Sanctuary States as California, Nevada, Illinois, Washington State and many counties within particular States.We cannot accommodate any longer those who come here to steal welfare and public services from valid Americans. It is estimated that illegal aliens send home by wire transfer around $40 billion dollars annually, which should be going into state treasuries. Join the TEA PARTY; join the people who are Black, White, Hispanic and every race, religious persuasion and further backgrounds who believe in the “Rule of Law.”MY EARLIER BLOGS: http://brittanicus-enoughisenough.blogspot.com/No Copyright. Distribute Freely.
August 27th, 2011 on 11:12 am
Why would they turn in their friends and relatives?
August 27th, 2011 on 3:43 pm
American Citizens and legal immigrants who are raped, robbed and killed by illegal aliens are the tragic collateral damage wrought by Lynn Tramonte, Alexsa Alonzo, Marisa Vertrees and their ilk as they serve as enablers and accomplices of illegal alien lawbreakers. My sympathy is reserved for these victims not the illegal aliens who prey on them.
August 27th, 2011 on 4:26 pm
What we must fight for is to safeguard the existence and reproduction of our race and our people, the sustenance of our children and the purity of our blood, the freedom and independence of the fatherland, so that our people may mature for the fulfillment of the mission allotted it by the creator of the universe.
-Adolf Hitler (Mein Kampf)
August 27th, 2011 on 4:54 pm
What we must fight for is to safeguard the existence and reproduction of our race and our people, the sustenance of our children and the purity of our blood, the freedom and independence of the fatherland, so that our people may mature for the fulfillment of the mission allotted it by the creator of the universe.
-La Raza
August 27th, 2011 on 4:57 pm
Fyi, leftfield, La Raza means The Race. Appropriate for the quote, no?
August 27th, 2011 on 9:41 pm
“Fyi, leftfield, La Raza means The Race. Appropriate for the quote, no?”
I’m afraid your translation is just a perversion of the term cooked up for propaganda purposes by your fellow Nazis. Just like “family values” is a perversion that actually means racial and religious prejudice R’ us.
August 28th, 2011 on 6:33 am
“…but “La Raza” very much does refer to a specific ethnic heritage.”
Let’s go the next step and have you explain what you believe the implications of that statement are, because that, and not the translation of the phrase, is what Mr. Immigrants’ fear is all about.
August 28th, 2011 on 6:35 am
P.S. I would hold that “La Raza” means something different entirely when used by Nativists than it does when used by, for example, an MAS student. Therein lies the perversion.
August 28th, 2011 on 1:37 pm
Feel free to jump into the conversation, refuse to answer questions, and then accuse me of being dishonest. You made a statement: ““La Raza” very much does refer to a specific ethnic heritage”. I asked you what this means to you and your response is: “First you tell me”.
Sigh. For me, when I hear this phrase I hear it as a statement of ethnic pride; pride and refusal to submit to despair in the face of racists and a racist system that everyday seeks to demean the value and the humanity of minority peoples. It strikes me in the same way as the message of Black Pride did and does. It speaks to the beauty and the strength of an oppressed people teaching their children pride in their culture and in themselves; a pride that stands in direct opposition to the message of shame they would get from the dominant culture (as evidenced here on these pages and elsewhere).
It is another version of the words of Malcolm X:
“We declare our right on this earth…to be a human being, to be respected as a human being, to be given the rights of a human being in this society, on this earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence by any means necessary.”
Each individual may likely think and feel different things when they hear this phrase. This is what I hear.
August 28th, 2011 on 10:49 am
It is not fear, my friend. It is the peculiar similarity in which the quote fits both groups, that I find interesting.
August 27th, 2011 on 11:35 pm
La Raza=Das Volk
August 28th, 2011 on 6:38 am
Here’s a good example. When fraser uses “La Raza”, he is talking about the “illegal mexican peon criminals” that he fears are coming to invade his world. When I use the term, it means something else entirely.