Thread: MD - Mayor signs executive order overriding Secure Communities - UGH!!!!!

Mayor seeks to allay immigrant fears
Order will prohibit police from asking about citizenship
John Fritze, The Baltimore Sun 12:28 a.m. EST, March 2, 2012

In response to a controversial federal immigration policy expanded to Baltimore last week, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake will sign an executive order Friday that would prohibit police officers from asking about a person's citizenship status. The measure comes days after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it would begin implementing a program called Secure Communities in the city.

Under the program, federal agencies check the immigration status of arrestees booked in local jails and can deport those who are in the country illegally. Immigrants — both legal and illegal — and city police are concerned that the policy will chill communication between the Hispanic community and law enforcement. The city is particularly worried that witnesses and victims will be less likely to come forward with information for fear of being caught up in immigration court and deported.

The order "will make clear that all victims and witnesses of crime in Baltimore, regardless of immigration status, must be treated with human dignity and respect," Rawlings-Blake said in a statement. "This policy will ensure that victims and witnesses can continue to feel safe reporting" crimes to police. The executive order will not affect the underlying federal policy. Moreover, city officials have already stated publicly that police will not act as immigration agents.

But Rawlings-Blake's administration hopes that formalizing the policy will allay concerns. Maryland has the 10th-largest population of undocumented immigrants in the country, an estimated 275,000, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. Baltimore and Montgomery County were the final jurisdictions in Maryland to fall under the Secure Communities program, which has led to 670 deportations in the state since 2008.

Mayor seeks to allay immigrant fears - baltimoresun.com

Strange how the Mayor of Baltimore also recently made an announcement that she hopes to attract 10,000 families to Baltimore in the next decade, and stated that she hopes that most of them will be "immigrants." Hmmm....coincidence that she just signed this executive order? Looks like Baltimore is on the very, very fast track in becoming the new sanctuary city of the east coast!

Oh, and gone are the days of our Governor calling illegal aliens "New Americans", articles that I've read in regards to Baltimore's Mayor referencing those flocking to Baltimore are "foreign-born newcomers"......LOL!!! That's a good one!!! "Foreign-born newcomers"....does that sound special???!!!

"Heads up! Baltimore! Rawlings is going to "Punk!" you!"

Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Mayor
City Hall, Room 250
100 N. Holliday Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21202
Phone: (410) 396-3835
Fax: (410) 576-9425

Contact The Mayor
Stephanie Rawlings-Blake - Government Official - Baltimore, MD | Facebook
https://twitter.com/#!/MayorSRB

GOOD 2 C U BAK ONLINE, HippieChick

Baltimore, MD temp http://bit.ly/zfxgdt #MD Forums for Justice - View Single Post - #MD http://bit.ly/igJ4Jm another slant to illegal immigration http://bit.ly/dVkcwD

Thanks stevetheroofer and happy2bme.....I have been incognito for awhile because my blood just boils when I throw myself into all of this, so I needed a mental break! I was so excited when Baltimore City finally got on board with Secure Communities, and now this happens. Ugh.
I just want the word to spread so people can let our Mayor know they won't be visiting Baltimore anymore if she continues to support illegal aliens.