Thread: Local Governments Taking Action On Immigration Issue

http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2006/ ... caudle.txt

Local Governments Taking Action On Immigration Issue

This article was published on Saturday, November 4, 2006 2:43 PM CST in Columns
By Bob Caudle
The Morning News

Rogers Mayor Steve Womack deserves a pat on the back for his recent stand on how to handle illegal immigrants.

Womack said recently he wants to enact laws modeled after those passed by Hazelton, Pa., to battle the growing influx of people illegally in Rogers.

Hazelton, you may recall, passed an ordinance that will fine landlords $1,000 for renting to illegal migrants, deny business permits to companies that give them jobs and make English the city's official language.

Womack made the move after a Rogers Police officer was struck by a bullet fired from a Benton County Sheriff's Deputy's gun during a scuffle while serving a warrant at a home in Rogers. A woman, who was not the target of the warrant, allegedly grabbed the deputy's arm, causing his gun to discharge.

The woman was not charged, but agreed to be deported after authorities found she was in the country illegally.

The incident, because it involved an illegal immigrant, enraged Womack.

Hazleton, the town Womack wants to emulate, is a city of about 31,000 according to The Associated Press, located 80 miles from Philadelphia.

The Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund filed has filed a lawsuit against the Hazelton ordinance, saying the measure violates the law and asking a federal judge to prevent its enforcement, according to the AP.

And the Congressional Research Service, a nonpartisan agency that writes reports for lawmakers, said in a recent analysis that federal law probably precludes municipalities from enforcing such measures.

That ought to quickly shoot down any such common sense procedures. Federal courts have a nasty habit of doing that.

Here's what our federal courts have done for us so far in, oh say, the area of religion.

If a convict says his religious beliefs dictate that he eat a bologna sandwich and howl at the moon every night at midnight, the prison must make arrangements to allow the prisoner to worship his religion in his own way, if he can show he's a member of an established church which includes such behavior in its doctrine.

But if a teacher wants to lead a school class in prayer, that's illegal.

To state the obvious, something's wrong with American government -- especially in the court system.

Leave the problem of illegal aliens to the feds, and we'll wind up with a plan to stamp "Return to Sender" on an illegal immigrant's forehead and stand them beside the mailbox for the Post Office to pick up.

(That might not be that bad of an idea. The way the Post Office operates, there's no telling where they'd send them or when they'd get there.)

Remember, the key word is "illegal." Immigrants are welcome.

Womack's proposal, no matter how well-intentioned for Rogers, inadvertently creates a problem for the rest of Northwest Arkansas in general and Springdale in particular.

Because if Rogers suddenly becomes illegal-unfriendly, illegal immigrants will simply move to Springdale. When Springdale enacts the same laws, they'll just move someplace else.

The problem of illegal immigrants is going to require a unified response from all the cities in Northwest Arkansas to work -- no matter how high the price of chickens rise in the short-term.

Allowing illegal immigration to prosper in the country is not fair to American citizens -- including those who came here from another country and went through the proper channels to become Americans.

It's going to be up to individual communities to come up with some kind of immigrant program locally, because we're getting no help from the U.S. government.

The best plan professional politicians and the president have come up with so far is building a fence along the border with Mexico. A 10-foot-tall fence at the border will work only for as long as it takes illegal immigrants to find a 12-foot ladder.

The real answer is to make it so tough on businesses that hire illegal immigrants that those businesses don't want to sell any more 12-foot ladders.

See Reader Comments at Above Link.

[quote="Dixie"]by Hazelton, Pa., to battle the growing influx of people illegally in Rogers.

Leave the problem of illegal aliens to the feds, and we'll wind up with a plan to stamp "Return to Sender" on an illegal immigrant's forehead and stand them beside the mailbox for the Post Office to pick up.






I can just visualize hundreds of illegals standing at the post-offices waiting for their turn to get wrapped up - this is funny

Your so funny hope.

Dixie

http://nwanews.com/bcdr/News/42182/

Mayor: Rogers police could address illegal immigration
By Jenny Bryers Staff Writer // jennyb@nwanews.com

Posted on Wednesday, November 15, 2006

ROGERS — Mayor Steve Womack has changed tactics in his quest to stop illegal immigrants from living in Rogers.

Rather than an ordinance punishing those who employ or rent to illegal residents, Womack sent a letter Tuesday to Homeland Security requesting that six Rogers police officers be trained in immigration and customs enforcement.

Section 287 g of the 1996 Immigration and Nationality Act allows local law enforcement officers to question and detain individuals for potential deportation, and Womack said after the Rogers City Council meeting Tuesday that he will wait for a response from Homeland Security and follow its guidance.

Several Latino leaders spoke in favor of the mayor’s quest to address the complex issue of illegal immigration, asking the mayor and City Council members to include all stakeholders in discussing illegal immigration.

“ I am responsible for ensuring our citizens can go about their daily life in safety and security, ” Womack read from a prepared speech. “ The truth is that illegal immigrants are the cause of a disproportionate amount of crime on our streets. ”

But at least one member in the packed audience questioned the mayor’s claims.

Jim Miranda of Bella Vista said those that govern Rogers need to first determine if the city has an illegal-immigration problem.

Miranda said that in 2005, three-quarters of the arrests in Rogers were of white residents, while only 69 percent of Rogers residents are white.

“ The facts tell us that crimes know no race, ” Miranda said. “ It is criminals, not illegals, that we should focus on. ”

He said the city should study what effects targeting illegal aliens will have on legal residents and businesses in the community, especially after the city settled a class-action lawsuit only three years ago for racially profiling Hispanic motorists.

Miranda was among several Latino residents to pledge they would help the city address its immigration problems.

But Rogers resident Judy Humpreys said the Latino speakers were misrepresenting the issue. She said illegal residents are breaking the law merely by being here.

“ We can’t pick and choose our laws, ” Humpreys said outside the City Council chambers, where more than a dozen people gathered after a nearly hour-long public forum preceding Tuesday’s council meeting.

Police Chief Steve Helms said officers who receive training would span several divisions within the Police Department, including Narcotics, the Crime Investigation Division and the newly approved fulltime Crime Suppression Unit.

“ I don’t want to take away any of our enforcement capabilities, ” Helms said Tuesday afternoon following a meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee, which was created from the 2003 racial-profiling-lawsuit settlement.