Thread: Initiative would require migrant-law enforcement

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... n0707.html

Monica Alonzo-Dunsmoor
The Arizona Republic
Jul. 7, 2006 12:00 AM


PHOENIX - The man who helped bring Proposition 200 to Arizona is pushing to change immigration policies in Phoenix.

Randy Pullen, leading a group called Protect our City, on Thursday submitted more than 21,000 signatures to get an initiative on a city ballot that would require Phoenix officials to enforce immigration laws.

Pullen needs 14,844 valid signatures to get his proposal in front of Phoenix voters as early as November 2007. advertisement




"This is Prop. 200 on steroids for Phoenix," said Pullen, who spent about $50,000 to gather the signatures. Proposition 200 is a voter-approved measure that aims to restrict certain public benefits to undocumented immigrants and prevent them from voting.

Pullen's latest initiative would require Phoenix to "enter into an agreement with the United States Department of Homeland Security to designate police officers as immigration officers qualified to investigate, apprehend, and detain aliens in the United States."

Pullen said his next stop is Tucson, where he plans to duplicate his initiative after the Phoenix election.

Mayor Phil Gordon said he understands the frustration.

"People are frustrated. I understand that. I'm frustrated," Gordon said. "Until Washington secures the borders and ports of this country, city initiatives with names like 'Protect Our City' only make use feel good but for no good reason. This won't secure our borders."

Pullen said he is expecting legal challenges from civil rights groups, such as the American Civil Liberties Union or the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund.

"They know if it gets on the ballot it will pass easily without me spending a penny on it," Pullen said.

Danny Ortega, a Phoenix attorney who served as co-counsel on a MALDEF challenge of Proposition 200, said he would ask the organization to review Pullen's initiative.

"It's explosive and dangerous," Ortega said. "It's an initiative that will endanger the safety of every resident of Phoenix . . . (because) resources that would go into fighting dangerous crimes would be also used to apprehend and process alleged undocumented persons."

Sgt. Joel Tranter, a Phoenix police spokesman, said the extra responsibility would put a strain on police officers who are already "extremely busy dealing with local issues."

Pullen said that reasoning was "laughable" because a "large part of the crime is due to illegal aliens."

Ortega said such statements weren't factual and only served as a "political ploy to anger people into action."

Pullen said it wasn't about roundups but simply detaining and reporting "illegal aliens" police officers encounter during normal police work.

He said his initiative would end the Phoenix Police Department's "sanctuary policy."

"That policy tells police not to fulfill their oath, which is to enforce local, state and federal laws," Pullen said.

The city's mutual aid and jurisdiction policy outlines how police officers handle encounters with undocumented individuals. It instructs them not to arrest a person if his only violation is of a federal immigration law and not to notify immigration officials when an undocumented person is a victim or witness of a crime, has only committed a minor traffic offense or is seeking medical treatment.

Immigration officials are called in when police come across a house or vehicle being used in the smuggling of undocumented people or in a drug house, according to the policy.

Gordon said that making changes would be up to Phoenix voters. "And whatever they tell us, this mayor will be listening and carrying out their wishes."

Good! !! Let the American citizens have their voices heard!

My favorite part is:

Sgt. Joel Tranter, a Phoenix police spokesman, said the extra responsibility would put a strain on police officers who are already "extremely busy dealing with local issues."

Pullen said that reasoning was "laughable" because a "large part of the crime is due to illegal aliens."

From the 911 Commission report:

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/911/index.html

In 1996,a new law enabled the INS to enter into agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies through which the INS provided training and the local agencies exercised immigration enforcement authority. Terrorist watchlists were not available to them. Mayors in cities with large immigrant populations sometimes imposed limits on city employee cooperation with federal immigration agents.A large population lives outside the legal framework. Fraudulent documents could be easily obtained. Congress kept the number of INS agents static in the face of the overwhelming problem.46

And it's still going on all these years later while we give these mayors millions of our tax dollars from Homeland Security! Enough already!

"People are frustrated. I understand that. I'm frustrated," Gordon said. "Until Washington secures the borders and ports of this country, city initiatives with names like 'Protect Our City' only make use feel good but for no good reason. This won't secure our borders."

No it will not secure our borders but if every city, every state took measures to enforce immigration laws illegals would not have jobs, not have social services, not have housing, would actually be afraid of law enforcement officials and as a result would REALLY be "living in the shadows" which they are not now. As a result there would be a great self deportation and the flow would reverse across the border. There would be nothing for them in the United States.

Aside from all that if you are an elected official in a city or state you should be doing what is right for the people who elected you to office. You have no control over the borders or other cities or states but you can control illegals within our own city and make your citizens very happy.

I agree. I think alot of issues should be voted on a state level, that way those states with the more liberal approach can really see the results. Then we could measure the problems of illegal immigration more accurately, I think.

Of course certain issues should be a federal issue.

expecting legal challenges from civil rights groups, such as the American Civil Liberties Union or the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund.

These people are sores on the face of America! What kind of legal challenge is there to upholding the law? Is it going to be "against" the law to "uphold" the law????

Initiative would require migrant-law enforcement

Imagine that? Law enforcement! Is this a great country or what?