Thread: D.C. Mayor Orders Police Not to Check Immigration Statuses

D.C. Mayor Orders Police Not to Check Immigration Statuses, Even in Arrests

Published October 19, 2011
FoxNews.com
AP

The nation's capital has officially become the latest safe haven for illegal immigrants.

District of Columbia Mayor Vincent Gray on Wednesday signed an executive order instructing police officers not to question people about their immigration status -- even people who are arrested on other matters -- unless immigration status is directly related to a criminal investigation.

"This executive order ensures public safety by ensuring that our police resources are deployed wisely and our immigrant communities feel safe cooperating with those who are sworn to protect them," Gray said in a statement.

"The district is home to thousands of immigrants," he added. "If they are afraid to cooperate with authorities on criminal investigations because they fear it might endanger their presence in the United States or the presence of a loved one, then it endangers their public safety and that of our entire city."

Although district officials say the order only confirms a longstanding policy, critics still blasted the move.

"This is an abomination," said Corey Stewart, the Republican chairman-at-large of Prince William County of Virginia, which is about 25 miles south of D.C. Stewart's county has sued the Department of Homeland Security twice, seeking information on 4,000 illegal immigrants that the county has arrested and turned over to Homeland Security for deportation.

"This is the capital of the United States," Stewart told FoxNews.com, "and to have the nation's capital as a sanctuary city where essentially federal law is not going to be enforced sends all the wrong messages -- not just in the United States but around the world."

The term "sanctuary city" is used to describe places where local officials refuse to enforce federal immigration laws and undocumented workers are free to seek jobs, housing or local government services without fear of deportation unless targeted by federal agencies.

Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Paul Quander said the order does not mean the district is opting out of a mandatory federal program called Secure Communities, which directs local agencies to share fingerprints collected from people in local jails with the Department of Homeland Security. The program is expected to be in place nationwide by 2013.

But Stewart noted Secure Communities is only relevant once people are arrested and jailed.

"So the fact they they're going to comply with Secure Communities is of little consequence."

In signing the order, Gray said he wanted to clarify that the local police in district are not in the business of enforcing federal immigration laws.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/10 ... z1bGtzgO5D

"The nation's capital has officially become the latest safe haven for illegal immigrants."

I hope ever illegal in the country moves to D.C.

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Our nation's capital is now a sanctuary city!!!

Sometimes it is hard to find words....

Originally Posted by Jean

Our nation's capital is now a sanctuary city!!!

Sometimes it is hard to find words....

We are so FAR into the twilight zone we have already entered the vortex of pitch black.....unreal........since most citizens will not vote for Obama, he is making sure he has his illegal alien voting bloc.

Gray orders city cops not to ask about immigration status


By:Liz Farmer | 10/19/11 8:05 PM
Examiner Staff Writer

Mayor Vincent Gray signed a policy on Wednesday that prohibits city police from asking about immigration status, but city officials said the District still plans to comply with the federal Secure Communities initiative aimed at identifying and deporting illegal immigrants accused of committing other crimes.

The executive order, which confirmed a long-standing policy, drew praise from immigrant rights groups that packed the room on Wednesday. The District's Office of Latino Affairs had invited people to the event, calling it an important symbolic gesture.

In late September, demonstrators, including the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, had rallied at city hall to ask for an executive order protecting immigrants against the federal program.

The order says police cannot ask a person about their immigration status during arrest or incarceration. However fingerprints of those arrested for violent crimes will still be sent to the FBI, as is federally mandated. It is the job of the FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to check immigration status of those arrested and issue a detainer for that individual if necessary.

But the order also mandates that those individuals will be held no longer than the federally required 48 hours before being released, unless ordered held without bail. Law enforcement officials could not say whether there had been cases where immigrants in city jails had been detained longer than the two days mandated by ICE.

"But I think now it's going to be clear ... we're not going to take action," said Peter Newsham, assistant chief of the Investigative Services Bureau.

However officials also said D.C. is still complying with the FBI and will continue to do so.

"It's not something you 'opt out' of," said Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Paul Quander. "It's not something we want to opt out of."

The fanfare around a clarification order had some council sources questioning whether the announcement was more political than substantive. Outside of city hall, others hinted that Gray was pandering.

"The mayor's move today will certainly make a specific group pleased," said Paul Craney, executive director of the D.C. Republican Committee.

For decades, local jurisdictions have shared the fingerprints of individuals who are booked into jails with the FBI to see if they have a criminal record. Under Secure Communities, the FBI will automatically send the fingerprints to ICE to check against its immigration databases.

Gray's order clarifies that D.C. will only be sending fingerprints of individuals arrested for violent crimes, said Police Chief Cathy Lanier. She added that is how the District cooperates with the FBI now.

Newsham said the order's biggest effect will be with witness cooperation.

"You go into certain neighborhoods, immigrant communities, and people are reluctant to talk to police," he said. "We're hopeful it'll change that."

Other jurisdictions Here's how law enforcement agencies around the Washington area handle the immigration issue:
• Arlington County -- Says it never asks a person's immigration status, but that inmates' fingerprints are being sent to state authorities.
• Fairfax County -- Police never ask. Once an arrested person is booked at the jail, they are asked whether they are U.S. citizens and their country of origin. Fairfax County is a member of Secured Communities. Arrestees are finger-printed, and checked through a database of FBI criminal records and ICE immigration records. If individuals are matched in Immigration and Customs Enforcement database, the sheriff's office is notified and ICE evaluates each case and determines the immigration status and takes appropriate enforcement action.
• Montgomery County -- Police do not ask immigration status, but will note the country of origin as part of the arrest process. Not a member of Secured Communities. Fingerprints forwarded to the FBI are not forwarded to immigration authorities.
• Prince George's County -- Police have a strict "don't ask" policy when it comes to immigration status. They say they let ICE handle checking immigration status once a perpetrator is booked by the Department of Corrections and fingerprints are passed along to federal officials.
• Loudoun County -- Is a member of Secured Communities. Also belongs to a 287 G program that allows the county to begin the detainer process to hold a suspected illegal immigrant without the presence of an ICE special agent.
• Prince William County -- Police do not ask a person's immigration status until they have been arrested and taken to jail. If the person says he is here illegally, the jail reports it to immigration authorities

http://washingtonexaminer.com

Kristopher Baumann, chairman of the Fraternal Order of Police, MPD with Laura Ingraham

paxalles.blogs.com
October 21, 2011

Laura Ingraham hosted Kristopher Baumann, chairman of the Fraternal Order of Police, MPD.

Baumann said that the DC mayor is under investigation and said he is vulnerable to advocacy groups who don't want secure communities enforced. He said that illegal immigrants aren't being held and law enforcement's relationship with the federal level has been damaged. Ingraham and Baumann noted that the criminals win out which is bad in DC which is rife with crime.

Ingraham said the federal government under DHS Secretary Napolitano has muddled the issue with contradictory edicts and many exceptions to immigration laws. Baumann said that no one wins when politics is pushed into the law enforcement arena. He said it puts a great strain on the community's law enforcement.

http://paxalles.blogs.com/paxalles/2011 ... raham.html

Can we vote for a new capitol city?