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POLICE LEADERS FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY CALL FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM

Washington, DC – Today, leading police executives from states as diverse as California, Iowa and Texas joined a growing chorus of law enforcement officials calling for comprehensive immigration reform. The law enforcement leaders, who discussed the issue during a telephonic press conference, described how the broken immigration system damages public trust and harms public safety. They stressed the importance of getting input from state and local law enforcement as Congress prepares to take up immigration reform in early 2010.

The speakers called for reform legislation that would strengthen border security, restore the rule of law, and legalize undocumented workers in order to build relationships of trust between all residents and the police and enhance public safety.

One of the participants in the press call, Chief of Police Rick Braziel of Sacramento, CA, stated, “Our city is one of the most diverse and integrated cities in America. We celebrate our cultural heritage and differences and strive to be inclusive. We can’t afford to have a group of residents be afraid of reporting crime because they believe we may report them for deportation. To allow that fear to exist in the minds of victims or witnesses endangers them and the rest of the community and lets criminals off the hook. Without comprehensive immigration reform, we place our communities and our nation at risk. It is time for Congress to take action on immigration reform to increase public safety and encourage full civic participation from all members of our community.”


“We can’t have an officer on every corner so that we may feel safe, but we can expect every citizen to be our eyes and ears. When members of the community are afraid of the police, it is counterproductive to our mission of public safety and national security. Not calling the police because of a fear of deportation allows further victimization and harms public safety. Washington needs to address our failed immigration policies and needs to enact a comprehensive immigration reform immediately,” added Arturo Venegas, the retired Chief of Police from Sacramento and now the Project Director of the Law Enforcement Engagement Initiative (LEEI).


Sheriff Bill McCarthy of Polk County, Iowa said, “In my county we have immigrants working hard and contributing to the economy. They are part of the fabric of our communities. As we’ve seen following the government’s raid in Postville, the lack of comprehensive immigration reform is hurting local economies, breaking up families, and compromising community trust. We need to be sure that every person living here knows that they can talk to the police and report crimes. Law enforcement needs to stay focused on its mission of preventing and investigating crimes, not checking immigration status.  Comprehensive immigration reform is overdue and needed from a law enforcement perspective.”

Deputy Chief Kim Lemaux of Arlington, Texas spoke about her police department’s participation in a year-long study conducted by the Police Foundation. “Here in Arlington, we came to the conclusion that the issue of immigration needs to remain the responsibility of federal law enforcement agencies. Local police agencies are already tasked with enforcing state, local and traffic laws and we need all of our resources directed at those responsibilities.” The Police Foundation’s study culminated in a report, released in April, which highlighted the fact that civil immigration enforcement diverts local police departments from core priorities and harms their ability to work with members of the immigrant community to identify and solve crimes. Deputy Chief Lemaux added, “The Arlington Police Department operates under a community-policing strategy, working to keep all of our residents vested in the safety of their community. If a group of residents fear the police, then they will not turn to officers for help, making them more viable victims. It is imperative that we are able to reach residents in every community in order for local law enforcement to focus on its core mission, fighting crime. As Congress considers the future of immigration and possible reform in the upcoming session, it is important that the needs and abilities of local law enforcement be a part of the discussion. ”

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Comments 3 comments for this article
Added: October 27, 2009. 09:39 PM CST
Enough With the Hypocrisy
The immigration issue is extremely complicated and not solved by the knee-jerk "deport them now" approach, most often motivated by racism and white supremacism. It's all really survival game, with Darwinian dimensions: multinationals flee our country for cheap labor, to survive,creating more poverty wherever they go. Unbalanced and unjust trade treaties subjugate countries south of the border ouyt of greed, causing hundreds of thousands of Mexican peasants to leave their small farms and emigrate northward for survival. Historically, the U.S. invaded Mexico and stole half its territory in the unjustified intervention (not the "Mexican War") of 1 8 4 6- 1848. Mexicans did not cross the border. The border crossed them, and has for 175 years attracted cheap Mexican labor hypcritically to build the mines and farms of the southwest. Now we are calling these returnees criminals and terrorists. Just give us all a break and be honest. Call it what it is--racism. And when our working population continues to decline, which is is now--we will beg for Mexican workers-not with rights--but as slaves as we did with the bracero program of the 1960s. You know what folks, we gringos are a real piece of work. We deserve all the bad karma we are getting. And I think the police chiefs see this clearly. God bless them. They don't want people living in the shadows--so bring them out--legalize them. give them transnational visas just like we do with the multinational corporations and the bankers who fly themselves all over the world, money grubbing and bankdrupting us all.
Anonymous
Added: October 23, 2009. 04:55 PM CST
No excuse for not enforcing 287 G law
The American people are now aware that E-Verify would have been stripped from immigration enforcement bills by our legislators? Sen.Harry Reid D-NV, Nancy Pelosi D-CA failed in their objective to table the law, as public outcry positively terminated any chance? E-Verification is a sophisticated tool to indirectly deport the 20 to 30 million plus from America? Whats the good of hanging around, if you are going to be verified through a government data base? Simply put--its self deportation. Any business operative caught employing illegal foreigners should go to prison. But now the battle lines have been drawn between--THE AMERICAN WORKERS Vs. A MULTITUDE OF PARASITE BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS AND THE OPEN BORDER LOBBYISTS. The 15 million unemployed citizens and legal residents now know who are the enemy that we are up against? The American public must stop the demand for undying influx of impoverished labor.

The magnet is businesses who draw the illegal cheap job hunters across the borders into the clutches of exploiting employers. I have heard from countless US workers, who have been dropped to make way for cheaper labor in every category of jobs, including higher career positions.

Most of our police chiefs are a bunch of wimps who don't want to blemish their reputation and not cause waves relating to the illegal immigration invasion. They know they are likely to be accused of racial profiling, so they walk away from upholding the law. Illegal immigrants have caused a massive crime wave within the US and little has been done to curb it. You can learn more at THE DARK SIDE OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION website and discover that federal and state prisons have hundreds of thousands of illegal alien inmates. Its a sad situation that their only a few police chiefs such as Sheriff Joe Ariapo of Maricopa county, Arizona who has the guts to go up against the corruption in the high places of power such as Washington? Just like E-Verify as an enforcement tool, the 287 G, police recognition and detainment program should be implemented by every state and county police agency.

American workers have been paying a price for at least two decades, because thousands of companies had resisted paying for health care? Instead that when maimed workers specially in manual forms of labor are carted to the nearest emergency hospital for treatment. The outcome being the employer is resolved from any responsibility and the taxpayer absorbed the medical debt. WHEN THE AMERICAN PEOPLE FORCE OUR INCOMPETENT POLITICIANS TO INTRODUCE E-VERIFY AS A PERMANENT ADDITION TO THE IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT ARSENAL, ILLEGAL ALIENS WITHOUT JOBS WILL LEAVE IN DROVES. But their must be substantial penalties for not using E-Verify, such as heavy fines and prison for many violations.

Internal ICE enforcement on a grand scale must become a daily event, as they investigate violations within the working communities. ONE CERTAIN WAY TO HALT THE ILLEGAL ALIEN INVASION, IS BY CHANGING THE CIVIL LAW TO CRIMINAL AS A CLASS ONE FELONY FOR ENTERING AMERICA WITHOUT PERMISSION?

A new poll by Zogby International has found people across our border believe an amnesty that would grant legal status to illegal immigrants would prompt more people to enter the U.S. illegally, the Center for Immigration Studies (CRS) stated. Another new survey conducted by Rasmussen Reports reveals that 56% of Americans say that federal immigration policies encourage illegal immigration, and 64% believe that local law enforcement should conduct raids in places where illegal aliens gather to find work. Only 19% opposed the raids compared to 24% who opposed such raids back in April.

A commentary from a blogger in:
Berwick, Pennsylvania about a once a thriving manufacturing town. There were 30,000 people employed at "American Car and Foundry" which used to manufacture munitions, tanks and railroad cars during the war. There were also many clothing and shoe manufacturers in town which employed several thousand people. Since the signing of the NAFTA agreement, every one of those businesses is GONE! G-O-N-E!!! There are thousands of unemployed people there with no hope of finding work since the majority of them are above 50 years of age and the fact remains it is a rural/semi-rural area.YET, there are scores of illegals coming into that same town collecting welfare and living in "HUD" homes which were lost by retirees living on a fixed income who could no longer afford their property taxes due to the increase in oil, gas, food, and cuts in their pensions and health are!

THIS IS THE MAJOR REASON WE NEED A PERMANENT E-VERIFY, FOR EVERY PERSON WHO IS EMPLOYED? NOT JUST FOR A THREE YEAR PERIOD?

Call and blast your Senators and Representative at 202-224-3121 in Washington. Overwhelming the switchboard with your calls, as it is having an outstanding effect of--MILLIONS of angry voters. THEY ARE BEGINNING TO LISTEN AND REACT? INFORM THEM DO YOUR DUTY OR SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES ON RE-ELECTION DAY? Tell them you want a PERMANENT E-Verify for--EVERY WORKER, a secure double layer fence and--REAL--enforcement against sanctuary state policies. Read undisclosed facts, statistics and lawmakers immigration enforcement grades of politicians at NUMBERSUSA. UNEARTH the corruption in government at JUDICIAL WATCH. Your voice is needed to halt OVERPOPULATION and American Worker survival. Demand NO-MORE-AMNESTIES. They should--GO--home and come through the front door, like millions of honest legal immigrants? Report any irregularities in your workplace to ICE. Be a patriotic American, Whistle-Blower and inform of illegal activity to ICE. Your job--COULD BE NEXT?
Brittanicus
Added: October 22, 2009. 05:41 PM CST
WTF?
This is a big concern to me.
Anonymous
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