The Future of Immigration Enforcement
http://thekojonnamdishow.org/shows/2012-01-09/future-immigration-enforcement
The U.S. deported a record number of people last year, yet the Obama administration faces criticism from both Democrats and Republicans on immigration policy. Most of the focus has been on the Secure Communities program, which shares local and state law enforcement information with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In response to criticism that the agency is casting too wide a net, ICE plans to allow more leeway in deportation cases. We look at this and other election year debates brewing over immigration.
Guests
Paromita Shah
Associate Director, National Immigration Project, National Lawyers Guild
Walter Tejada
Member, Arlington County Board (D)
Margaret Orchowski
Congressional Correspondent, Hispanic Outlook on Higher Education; author, Immigration and the American Dream: Battling the Political Hype and Hysteria (Rowman and Littlefield, 2008)
Comments
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Local immigration enforcement is dangerous as it leads to a rift between local police and certain segments of the local communities. In Washington DC, community policing strategies have been essential to decreasing and fighting crime. However, when the community hears that police are enforcing immigration law, immigrants and Latinos, who are disproportionally affected by anti-immigrant laws, they become less likely to report crimes even if they are victims or witnesses. This is dangerous for us all. Instead of deputizing police to enforce these laws, the federal government should provide a path to legalization to those who are contributing to and building our country.
Please use "illegal immigrants" when referring to those who sneak into this country. The word "immmigrants" alone is incorrect for the sneaks and cheats - though I can certainly understand the agenda of those who wish to cloud the issue and confuse the concepts. People in fact do not have trouble with immigrants, it's the illegal immigrants that people (and the Law) have trouble with.
In fact, MY grandparents were immigrants but they did not get into this country by sneaking into it. They did not crawl through a tunnel, hide in a car trunk, or lie to border officials. (And they made the effort to learn English once they got here). They were immigrants and there was nothing illegal about it. So please do not confuse immigrants with ILLEGAL immigrants, there is a difference and to intentionally confuse that difference is being party to the lie.