http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pag...u_sid=10239088
Published Wednesday | January 23, 2008
Enforcement plan on immigration criticized
BY MARTHA STODDARD
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU

LINCOLN — Some lawmakers and law officers expressed misgivings Tuesday about a proposal for Nebraska law agencies to team up with the federal government to enforce immigration laws.

A federal law authorizes the U.S. Homeland Security secretary to sign agreements in which state and local agencies can perform select immigration enforcement duties.

Attorney General Jon Bruning brought the idea to Gov. Dave Heineman several months ago and is continuing to research it, the governor said.

Lancaster County Sheriff Terry Wagner, immediate past president of the Nebraska Sheriffs Association, said signing such an agreement would require a big commitment of time and people. The training alone would take four to five weeks.

He said he didn't know how many sheriffs' offices might be interested.

"Every agency needs to look at their needs," Wagner said. "How many illegals do they come in contact with in the course of their activities?"

State Sen. Mike Friend of Omaha questioned whether Nebraska law enforcement agencies should take on a federal issue when they have plenty to do now.

"There is an implementation issue, there's a resources issue and there's a jurisdictional issue," Friend said.

Sen. Ray Aguilar of Grand Island raised similar concerns about the burden on law enforcement.

He said such agreements could damage relationships between local law agencies and some groups in the community, which could hamper crime-fighting efforts.

Heineman said support needs to be broad-based before Nebraska moves forward with any agreement.

"That's one of the issues we need to know: Do local law enforcement (officials) support the effort?" Heineman said. "Right now we're reviewing that entire situation."

Such agreements have been signed in at least 22 places around the country, and 349 officers have been cross-trained, according to information from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Under the agreements, local law officers can check the immigration status of people arrested for violating state or local laws that are more serious than traffic offenses.

The agreements do not allow police to do random checks on people's immigration status or conduct immigration raids, according to federal information.

A resolution introduced by Sen. Tony Fulton of Lincoln would encourage city, county and state agencies to sign such agreements.

Fulton said he introduced a resolution rather than propose a law because he doesn't want to force law officers to take on additional duties. He said immigration enforcement is ultimately a federal responsibility.

Also on Tuesday, State Sen. Russ Karpisek of Wilber introduced another immigration-related proposal in the Legislature.

His Legislative Bill 1071 would put a 1 percent excise tax on wire transfers of money. Revenue collected under the bill would go into the state school aid fund.

Karpisek said he hasn't found any information about how much money is wired from Nebraska to other states or countries, although he said estimates of wire transfers nationally range up to $25 billion a year.

He said money wired elsewhere typically is earned in Nebraska, often by immigrants who are here illegally, yet does not benefit the state's economy.

"It will at least capture a little bit of it," he said of his bill.

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2 ... d=10238106
Published Monday | January 21, 2008
Nebraskans speak out against effort to deny benefits to illegal immigrants
BY MARTHA STODDARD
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
LINCOLN — Gov. Dave Heineman is considering having Nebraska law enforcement officials help enforce federal immigration laws.

The governor has talked about possibilities involving both state and local agencies with Attorney General Jon Bruning, who is reviewing the options under a 1996 federal law, Heineman's spokeswoman, Jen Rae Hein, said Monday.

That law authorizes the U.S. Homeland Security secretary to sign agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies under which those agencies could perform selected immigration enforcement duties.

Such agreements have been signed in a few places around the country, including Florida, Alabama and Los Angeles County, Calif.

State Sen. Tony Fulton of Lincoln also is looking at the issue. He has introduced Legislative Resolution 224, which would encourage city, county and state law enforcement agencies in Nebraska to sign such agreements. The resolution has been sent to the Judiciary Committee.

Fulton said he offered a resolution rather than proposing a new law because he doesn't want to require local law enforcement agencies to take on additional duties when most say they are stretched thin already.

"This is ultimately a federal responsibility," Fulton said. "I don't want to introduce a law mandating state law enforcement do what we're paying the feds to be doing."

As a general rule, many Nebraska police chiefs say, officers pursue immigrants involved in criminal activity, but not for civil violations. Under current law, being in the country illegally is a civil violation.

Ben Salazar, publisher of Nuestro Mundo, a Spanish-English newspaper in Omaha, said he opposes the idea of enlisting local authorities to help enforce federal immigration laws.

"I think that would open doors to more racial profiling," he said. "I think that's un-American."

Salazar was part of a group that gathered in the State Capitol Rotunda to speak out Monday against the governor's legislative proposal to deny benefits to illegal immigrants.

He said that push offends the principles espoused by the Rev. Martin Luther King, the civil rights leader; by Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi and by farmworker organizer César Chávez.

"We are here to continue that fight against bigotry, oppression and injustice by speaking out against these proposed bills," Salazar said.
"These bills are the product of hypocrites and bullies."At issue is Legislative Bill 963, which State Sen. Mike Friend of Omaha introduced last week on behalf of Heineman.

The bill would require all state agencies and local governmental subdivisions to verify the immigration status of people applying for any sort of benefits.

It also would repeal a law passed in 2006 that allows Nebraska high school graduates who are illegal immigrants to attend public colleges and universities at in-state tuition rates. That law passed over Heineman's veto.

Hein took issue with the contention that the proposal represented bigotry. The governor has said the bill is targeted at legal status, not at any race or nationality, she said.

Salazar was joined at the State Capitol press conference by Latino, black and white community leaders.

Thomas Christie, president of Lincoln's Malone Center, said the idea of citizenship has evolved over time. He noted that it wasn't until 1920 that women were granted full citizenship with the right to vote. American Indians were not considered citizens until even later, he said.

Christie called it "ludicrous" for the governor to promote college education for young Nebraskans while trying to repeal a law aimed at helping children of undocumented workers gain access to higher education.

Susan Hale, advocacy educator for the Center for People in Need in Lincoln, said Heineman has presented no evidence to show that there is a problem with people getting benefits to which they are not entitled.

She also questioned the cost of a verification process.


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"Such agreements have been signed in at least 22 places around the country, and 349 officers have been cross-trained, according to information from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement."
Does anyone have a handle or know where I can get stats on how training local law enforcement officers has worked in the above 22 locations...so far...

(Sen. Ray Aguilar of Grand Island raised similar concerns about the burden on law enforcement. He said such agreements could damage relationships between local law agencies and some groups in the community, which could hamper crime-fighting efforts.)
As info, Mr Aguilar is the only hispanic member of the State Legislature that I'm aware of and Grand Island is a "sanctuary" city. If your legal and not doing anything wrong, why should it damage relations? It would seem that all a law enforcement office would have to do it to perform the check equally to all people.

Also on Tuesday, State Sen. Russ Karpisek of Wilber introduced another immigration-related proposal in the Legislature.
"His Legislative Bill 1071 would put a 1 percent excise tax on wire transfers of money. Revenue collected under the bill would go into the state school aid fund."
It's about time someone has come to their senses about this. Does anyone in the ALIPAC group know of any other states doing this?....thanks