Action Left

The 287 (g) program allows local police to enforce Federal immigration policy. Given the complete disaster that has resulted, including the ongoing human rights violations by Sherrif Joe Arpaio who is abusing the 287 (g) program, you would think that the Obama administration would want to end such ineffective and unjust policies.

But last week, the Obama administration revived a Bush-era program called “Secure Communities” that provides local law enforcement with the technology to check the immigration status of virtually every person entering a  jail, including those who have simply been arrested but not yet convicted. This is a terrible idea…here’s why:

Police don’t want to do it

• According to a Police Foundation report, many police execs are worried that these types of policies result in distrust for police in immigrant communities. This can lead to fewer members of these communities reporting crimes or being willing to cooperate as witnesses, which ultimately threatens public safety.  Beacuse of this, many officers feel that it is the responsbility of the Federal government to enforce its own immigration laws.

Abuse is Likely Already Happening

• There are no standards for just enforcement or monitoring mechanisms. According to Marty Rosenbluth, an immigration lawyer with the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, 

The problem with Secure Communities is there’s no way that we know of to be able to track it. There’s no accountability, there’s no reporting procedures, there’s no way to document in any systematic fashion who’s getting into deportation proceedings because of Secure Communities. 

• The 287 (g) program, which gives local law enforcement the authority to enforce immigration laws, is already resulting in outrageous human rights violations. From Latina Lista:

While the 287(g) partnership program with DHS was intended to target immigrants convicted of violent crimes…the federal/local partnerships are actually being used to “purge towns and cities of ‘unwelcome’ immigrants.”

• Since when have we been able to trust law enforcement to not racially profile? In a perfect world, a move like this could simply be about efficiency. But, given that programs like this are already resulting in abuse, expanding them can only make things worse.

It doesn’t work

• Supposedly, the program targets the “most dangerous” criminals for deportation. But, ICE revealed that of the 9000 people deported under the policy, 1/3 committed crimes “serious crimes” [typically violent crimes] while 2/3 committed minor offenses like speeding. 

Since the policy checks the immigration status of every person entering a jail, its likely to ensnare tons of people who are not even guilty of the crimes they are accused of. Racial profiling against Latinos and other immigrant groups can only be exacerbated by this type of haphazard disregard for immigrants and their families.