New Bedford chief cool to illegal immigrant crackdown program
New Bedford chief cool to illegal immigrant crackdown program
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/...&border=0&Q=80
By NATALIE SHERMAN
newsroom@s-t.com
March 13, 2012 12:00 AM
NEW BEDFORD — Police Chief Dave Provencher said Monday there is no urgent need in New Bedford for a controversial federal program designed to crack down on illegal immigrants.
The program had been touted earlier in the day by Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson.
"My priority right now is to establish relationships with that community so that they feel comfortable coming to us when they need help," Provencher said Monday. "The rest of it will all sort out later."
Under the Secure Communities program, fingerprints taken by local police are automatically sent to federal immigration authorities. If there is a match, police are authorized to hold the suspect for an extra 48 hours, not including weekends.
Hodgson has been one of the state's most outspoken advocates of Secure Communities, a stance that has put him at loggerheads with Gov. Deval Patrick and pushed him to wade into the Senate race Monday to attack Elizabeth Warren. Warren has said she does not support the initiative.
"This Senate race is a high-profile race ... and we're going to use whatever opportunity we have to get this program in Massachusetts," Hodgson said on a conference call hosted by the Massachusetts Republican Party. "It's pretty clear that Elizabeth Warren really, really looks at this issue more from an ivory tower than she does from being in our communities."
Patrick withdrew Massachusetts from the program in 2007, saying it was hurting relations between police and local communities. In August, the Department of Homeland Security said it did not need state authorization to go ahead with implementation. Secure Communities is already in place in Suffolk County and 44 other states.
Secure Communities allows police to quickly identify suspects that pose flight risk, Hodgson said.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement files might also contain more information about a suspect, such as alias or tattoos, he said.
"If you don't have (the information) immediately and someone gets released, once that person is released and it's discovered that he's gone, it's very difficult to reach him," Hodgson said.
Provencher said he sees the advantages of the Secure Communities program but that it could make people less willing to come to police.
"Obviously, information available is always a benefit but I think you also have to weigh the price of getting that information and what it does to community relations," he said. "Fear of being involved with the government keeps folks from reporting crime and that always makes them much more vulnerable to crime and much more likely to be victimized."
In a statement, Warren made the similar points as Provencher, saying she is concerned and hopes to talk with local and state police about how to design a more effective program.
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