Thread: Timing of roundups of illegal immigrants with criminal recor

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/edi ... 77575.html

June 17, 2006, 7:14PM

SWEEPS WEEK
Timing of roundups of illegal immigrants with criminal records mixes politics with policing


More than 2,000 noncitizens convicted of crimes or violating deportation orders have been arrested around the country in a well-publicized Immigration and Customs Enforcement effort with the catchy name of "Operation Return to Sender."

ICE Assistant Secretary Julie Myers called a Houston press conference and declared, "ICE will leave no stone unturned in hunting down and deporting aliens who victimize our community." In fact, immigration officials had little trouble locating their targets — many were registered on sex offender lists or other data bases known to law enforcement. In Texas 424 illegal immigrants were arrested; 120 were taken into custody in Houston. More than 700 were arrested in California.

Immigration is a hot topic in this year's congressional election campaigns. Proposed legislation is passionately debated. With conservatives attacking President George W. Bush for being too lenient on illegal immigrants, the timing of the sweep seems more than coincidental. In addition to publicizing criminality by a tiny fraction of undocumented workers, the raids are sure to raise expectations and fears that larger roundups of noncitizens might be on the way.

Most people involved in the debate over illegal immigration would agree that convicted immigrants, particularly those who commit violent crimes or sexually molest children, should be deported after serving their sentences. The fact that the people arrested in last week's sweep had not already been deported says much about the failure of local, state and federal authorities to follow existing regulations and standard police procedures.

It also indicates how underfunded and understaffed Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been, despite the creation of a massive Homeland Security bureaucracy to secure America's borders and prevent terrorist attacks inside the United States.

Former immigration agent Michael Cutler of New York labeled the sweep of long neglected criminals "a dog and pony show" designed to create the illusion of decisive action.

The latest ICE campaign offers little to solve the worst dilemma involving illegal immigrants: what to do about the 11 million-12 million of them living and working in the United States. As President Bush recently opined, forcible deportation on that scale "isn't going to happen."

Rather than indicating a new, get-tough stance on illegal immigration taken by the ICE, the sweep is evidence of the bungled state of U.S. policies and laws concerning illegal immigration. ICE would not have to mount much-ballyhooed raids to round up undocumented felons if those felons — as required by policy — had never been released to the streets in the first place.

Instead of "Return to Sender," this operation should have been labeled "Check Your Mailbox More Often."

Instead of "Return to Sender," this operation should have been labeled "Check Your Mailbox More Often."

How true - they should also learn how to properly delete infected mail!