Posted on 06/09/2011 3:50:51 PM PDT by moonshinner_09
The City Council voted Tuesday to support state legislation that would allow the city to opt out of the federal government’s “Secure Communities” program that requires police to submit fingerprints of arrested people to federal immigration officials.
The program was created in 2008 and calls for police to submit suspects’ fingerprints to Immigration and Customs Enforcement so they can be cross-checked with federal deportation orders.
City Councilman Bernard Parks, a former Los Angeles police chief who introduced the motion supporting the state legislation, said the program was intended to target undocumented immigrants convicted of violent crimes but has gone far astray from its original purpose.
A report by the city’s chief legislative analyst found that nearly 70 percent of people deported under Secure Communities had no convictions or were accused of minor offenses.
Washington, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C., have refused to sign agreements with the Department of Homeland Security to participate in the program. The governors of New York and Illinois have also recently withdrawn their states from the program.
Legislation for California to withdraw has passed the state Assembly and is awaiting a vote in the Senate.
“One of the most significant issues of Secure Communities is that it impedes victims (from) making crime reports,” Parks said. “That is a 40-year journey in the city of Los Angeles for the LAPD … finding ways through language skills and also breaking down barriers to allow victims to come in, unimpeded to report crimes.”
Anti-immigration activists will accuse Los Angeles of being a “sanctuary city” and harboring criminals, Parks said, but “the large issue for me is that this is a home-rule issue. The city of Los Angeles should set policies as it regards how they conduct business with the community in which they serve.”
(Excerpt) Read more at egpnews.com ...
Yes, it is not just abnormal but impedes the Federal Govt. enforcing our present immigration laws.
LA and much of So. Cal _are_ Mexico. Of course they don’t want to help send their _citizens_ back across a non-existant border...
Ping!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.