Thread: IA: King: Police must do more to stem illegal immigration

King: Police must do more to stem illegal immigration

By TONY LEYS
September 18, 2010

Comments (37)

The federal government should cut aid to cities - including Des Moines - that ban police officers from checking the immigration status of people they suspect of being in the country illegally, U.S. Rep. Steve King said Friday.

King, a western Iowa Republican, said he'd heard Des Moines officers have been told not to look into the citizenship of people they suspect are illegal immigrants. Because of that practice, he said, he considers Des Moines a "sanctuary city," similar to San Francisco.

"Federal resources to sanctuary cities need to be ratcheted down until they eliminate that policy and cooperate" with immigration authorities, King told Des Moines Register editors and reporters.

A police department spokesman later said King's claim was false. "That's not a policy that I'm aware of. It's not a practice, either," said Sgt. Jeff Edwards. He added that immigration is not a primary focus of the department, but officers are not forbidden from checking into it, and the department cooperates with federal officials on the issue.

Polk County Sheriff William McCarthy also denied King's contention. "I don't want to get in a fight with a congressman, but he needs to get his facts right," McCarthy said.

McCarthy noted that his department recently began using a system that checks the fingerprints of every person brought to the jail, including people arrested by Des Moines police. The system compares the fingerprints to those in a database of people wanted by immigration authorities, and it automatically reports to those authorities when a match is made.

McCarthy, who used to be Des Moines' police chief, has said in the past that he favors issuing drivers' licenses to illegal immigrants. Doing so would make it easier to enforce traffic laws, he said. He said Friday that all local police agencies cooperate with immigration officials. However, he said, local police do not have the authority to arrest anyone for immigration offenses, any more than they're empowered to arrest people for violating federal tax law.

King has made national headlines for his strong stances against illegal immigration.

After being told of Edwards' and McCarthy's responses to his contentions, he said he was glad to hear about the new fingerprint program at the jail. But he said through a spokeswoman that he still suspects the departments aren't doing all they could to stem illegal immigration.

"Do they encourage their officers to inquire about the lawful presence of persons whom they encounter? Or do they discourage? If the latter is the case, they have a de facto sanctuary policy," he said.

Earlier Friday, during the Des Moines Register meeting, he said there's no need to deport the approximately 11 million immigrants already here illegally. "I think a lot of them will go home on their own, once we re-establish the rule of law."

He said the country could dramatically reduce the problem by clamping down on companies that employ illegal immigrants; ensuring that local police help identify and detain such immigrants; and building an effective fence along border areas where many immigrants cross.

For models of effective barriers, he said, the United States could look at the Great Wall of China and the walls Israel erected to stop terrorists from crossing from the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

King also would have the Internal Revenue Service aggressively check for illegal workers on companies' payrolls. Employers would be taxed on wages paid to such workers, he said, which would be a major expense. He would exempt employers that used the government's computerized "E-Verify" system to check prospective employees' immigration status.

King said illegal immigration costs the United States in several ways. Immigrant families tend to have low incomes. Although they are ineligible for many types of public assistance, they do use some, he said. They also take jobs that otherwise could go to legal residents with few skills, who now are on welfare programs, he said.

www.desmoinesregister.com

Added to Homepage:
http://www.alipac.us/article-5663--0-0.html

King said illegal immigration costs the United States in several ways. Immigrant families tend to have low incomes. Although they are ineligible for many types of public assistance, they do use some, he said. They also take jobs that otherwise could go to legal residents with few skills, who now are on welfare programs, he said.

Exactly. All illegal immigration does is increase poverty, crime, unemployment, taxes and the deficit. It's a loser any way you want to look at it, and anyone who supports it, aids it, abets it or defends it is a loser too.

Congressman Steve King. one of the FEW in Washington DC Actually get it.

The Congressman is also endorsed by ALIPAC for his continued work to stop illegal immigration.