"Menino threatens to quit plan targeting crime by immigrants" July 11, 2011|By Martine Powers and Stewart Bishop, Globe Correspondents
In an abrupt turnaround, Mayor Thomas M. Menino has said he will withdraw Boston police from the federal Secure Communities program unless US federal immigration officials limit their deportation efforts to only those immigrants who have committed serious crimes.
All I'm going to do is ask you to see my driver's license.
In a letter to be delivered today to the Department of Homeland Security’s Secure Communities task force, Menino said the program, which requires that fingerprints from arrests be cross-referenced with federal immigration databases, has caused a breakdown of relations between residents and law enforcement officials in Boston’s immigrant communities. The cross-referencing means that people picked up for relatively minor crimes can face deportation, along with the more serious criminals the program was meant to target.
I was wondering what part of illegal is not a crime.
“As operated now, Secure Communities is diminishing trust, an essential part of the neighborhood fabric and a vital public safety tool,’’ Menino wrote.
That's happening all across AmeriKa, immigrant or no.
“Secure Communities must change substantially or be scrapped,’’ he wrote.
Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis will visit the Secure Communities task force in Washington, D.C., this morning to deliver the letter and make a statement outlining his and Menino’s concerns about the program, according to police spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll.
Boston piloted Secure Communities in 2006, and since the program’s official launch in 2008, it has expanded to cities and towns in more than 40 states.
And now we find out it is a failure?
Just over one month ago, Menino and Davis defended the controversial initiative after Governor Deval Patrick refused to expand the program to State Police.
At the time, Boston officials said they felt that Secure Communities was helping to fight crime....
Whatever works when you say it, right?
I a$$ume a certain $ub$tance wa$ involved?
On Friday, Menino met with law enforcement officials and the heads of immigrant advocacy groups in a roundtable discussion to learn more about how the program was affecting local immigrant communities. Many of those at the meeting said the program has failed to make streets safer because it discourages immigrants from reporting crimes or talking to police for fear of deportation.
And then the politicians flipped on it? I wish I had an interest group that could deliver like that! The corporate looting of the public treasury would have ended by now.
In his letter, Menino called on the Secure Communities task force to demonstrate more transparency in how it decides whose fingerprints are shared with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Department of Homeland Security must establish a “partition’’ that separates immigrants charged in felony crimes from those arrested on misdemeanors, he argued.
Otherwise, he said, Boston will no longer participate in the the program.
“Boston took part in Secure Communities as a pilot project, with the understanding that only the most serious criminals would be affected and the belief that our feedback would lead to improvements in the program,’’ Menino wrote in the letter. “It would be a further violation of the public trust if instead Secure Communities proves to be a knot that the federal government will not untie.’’
It is not clear what effect Menino’s threat to have Boston stop participating in the program will make: A senior official in the Department of Homeland Security told the Globe last month that the program will be rolled out nationwide by 2013, regardless of whether state or local leaders approve....
Whatever works when you say it, right?
I a$$ume a certain $ub$tance wa$ involved?
On Friday, Menino met with law enforcement officials and the heads of immigrant advocacy groups in a roundtable discussion to learn more about how the program was affecting local immigrant communities. Many of those at the meeting said the program has failed to make streets safer because it discourages immigrants from reporting crimes or talking to police for fear of deportation.
And then the politicians flipped on it? I wish I had an interest group that could deliver like that! The corporate looting of the public treasury would have ended by now.
In his letter, Menino called on the Secure Communities task force to demonstrate more transparency in how it decides whose fingerprints are shared with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Department of Homeland Security must establish a “partition’’ that separates immigrants charged in felony crimes from those arrested on misdemeanors, he argued.
Otherwise, he said, Boston will no longer participate in the the program.
“Boston took part in Secure Communities as a pilot project, with the understanding that only the most serious criminals would be affected and the belief that our feedback would lead to improvements in the program,’’ Menino wrote in the letter. “It would be a further violation of the public trust if instead Secure Communities proves to be a knot that the federal government will not untie.’’
It is not clear what effect Menino’s threat to have Boston stop participating in the program will make: A senior official in the Department of Homeland Security told the Globe last month that the program will be rolled out nationwide by 2013, regardless of whether state or local leaders approve....
And that. my friends, is federal fascism.
Steve Kropper, co-chairman of Massachusetts Citizens for Immigration Reform, said the Secure Communities Program has been successful in tackling the problem of illegal immigration.
“In the last few years we’ve made substantial strides in stemming the tide of illegal immigration,’’ Kropper said. “Now is not the time to back off.’’
Kropper said the fact that low-level offenders were being affected by the program was an indication of its success.
“The opportunity when there is a minor offense to check the immigration status of someone is a very efficient way to solve the problem of illegal immigration,’’ Kropper said.
Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington-based think tank that favors stricter controls on immigration, said the mayor’s opposition to the program is akin to the establishment of so-called sanctuary cities where local authorities attempt to protect illegal immigrants from federal law enforcement.
Massachusetts is a sanctuary state.
“The fact is it’s not just a useful program, it’s almost a minimal prerequisite for a serious immigration control system,’’ Krikorian said. “If illegal immigrants are not identified when they are picked up by local authorities, how will federal law enforcement ever find them?’’
Krikorian said those opposed to Secure Communities are trying to make immigration status a secondary offense that a person cannot be initially cited for, like seat-belt laws in many states.
Part of the problem, he said, is the Obama administration has been ambivalent and inconsistent on immigration enforcement. “They talk up Secure Communities, but they don’t like it. They look at it like my 11-year-old looks at broccoli. They’ll eat just enough to get dessert.’’
The whole thing is a revolving door, and who profits?
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