Thread: Police: Feds Won't Pick Up Known Illegal Immigrants

http://www.wftv.com/news/9617602/detail.html

Police: Feds Won't Pick Up Known Illegal Immigrants

POSTED: 4:27 pm EDT August 2, 2006

PALM BAY, Fla. -- The immigration issue is heating up in Central Florida. Police in one community said they are running across illegal immigrants every day, but are getting fed up with the feds not doing anything about it.

Palm Bay police officers said they had no choice but let people go who they know are in the country illegally, because federal authorities won't pick up the undocumented workers. It comes just as the city council considers a new law that could lead to fines for the employers of illegal immigrants.

Palm Bay police said they come across as many as a dozen illegal immigrants a day, and most of the time there is little if anything they can do.

When Palm Bay police pulled over a minivan for racing down Babcock Street at nearly 20 miles over the speed limit, officers found seven illegal immigrants inside. They pulled out Mexican IDs and nothing more.

"No green card, no work visa's, nothing that said he has any right to be in the United States," said Officer Mike Veina, Palm Bay Police Department.

Police brought in a translator and took pictures to document all the citrus pickers, but that was about all they could do. Even though it's their jurisdiction, police said federal agents rarely get involved.

"You call INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service), they give you the runaround. They tell you to call border patrol and forward you back to INS. Nobody makes a decision on it," Veina said.

Palm Bay police said they are usually only left with one option, release them. It costs officers lots of time and many find it frustrating.

"You pull them over and you are spending at least an hour now trying to identify them," Veina said.

"They are here in the country, illegally, but where do you take them, the jail? Immigration won't pick them up. They will just sit there forever," Veina said.

"Each case is different and complex. We don't turn a blind eye to those who violate the laws, but we have to prioritize enforcement for cases which affect national security and threaten public safety," said Barbara Gonzales, a spokesperson for the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

But police said, with no documentation showing who the illegal immigrants are, they have no idea if they are wanted or if they are dangerous. Police said, if a proposed ordinance passes in Palm Bay, with that traffic stop they could find out who their employer is and fine them. They hope that would deter employers from hiring illegals and they might look somewhere else for work.

This is anarchy by the Federal government and they need to be held accountable!

We should all march in Washington in protest! They are not enforcing the law!

CC,

I totally agree. Nothing is going to shake them up like a peaceful march on 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. w/ about 200k people.
I'd really love to be a fly on the wall in Congress or the White House if that ever happened. I'll bet GWB's hearing would be working fine this day.

Nothing like having people who want to do their jobs and somebody tieing their hands so they can't. This nonsense has to stop.