Thread: MA: Regional GOP Reps Unite Against Patrick

Regional GOP reps unite against Patrick; Immigrant Checks Urged

TELEGRAM & GAZETTE (Massachusetts)
June 9, 2011 Thursday
By John J. Monahan
BOSTON, MA

Over a dozen Central Massachusetts Republicans today began organizing opposition to Gov. Deval L. Patrick's decision not to join the federal Secure Communities program that deports illegal immigrants accused of crimes.

One local Republican representative argued all immigrants without proper papers or documents should be deported.

State Rep. Ryan Fattman, R-Sutton, accused the governor of "siding with criminal illegal immigrants" instead of taxpayers and police officials who highly support this program.

Mr. Fattman, who is assisting circulating a letter opposing the governor's decision, said he hopes the many signatures will convince the governor to immediately reverse his decision.

Mr. Fattman dismissed concerns of a few law enforcement officials - cited by the governor - who said using local police to enforce immigration laws could discourage reporting of crime by victims who are illegal immigrants.

Asked if he would be concerned that a woman without legal immigration status was raped and beaten as she walked down the street might be afraid to report the crime to police, Mr. Fattman said he was not worried about those implications.

"My thought is that if someone is here illegally, they should be afraid to come forward," Mr. Fattman said. "If you immigrate legally, you don't have to be concerned about these things," he said referring to obtaining legal immigration status.

In a letter notifying federal officials that the governor has decided not to sign agreements to join the federal program, state Public Safety Secretary Mary E. Heffernan said the governor is "dubious of the commonwealth taking on the federal role of immigration enforcement."

The governor said Monday the federal program could cause more problems than it solves.

"We run a risk of ethnic profiling, and frankly, fracturing important relationships in communities that are necessary for law enforcement," Mr. Patrick said.

Mr. Patrick insisted the current system already reports illegal immigrants who commit crimes to federal immigration officials.

Also signing on in opposition to the governor were local Republican state representatives Matthew A. Beaton of Shrewsbury, Peter J. Durant of Spencer, Kimberly N. Ferguson of Holden, Kevin J. Kuros of Uxbridge, and Stephen L. Levy of Marlboro.

Senate President Therese Murray said with only one in four illegal immigrants being deported for having committed crimes, "The program is not working" where is it being used. She said she remains concerned over the costs to local cities and towns to implement the program, and state costs for defending indigent immigrants from pending deportation action.

Ms. Heffernan, the state's Public Safety Secretary, said she and the governor are "even more skeptical of the potential impact" the program - which calls for fingerprints of all people arrested in the state to be sent to federal immigration authorities to check their immigration status - would have on residents of the state.

She said residents at public hearings voiced some concerns about racial profiling by police. State officials have said under the program local police would have discretion over which people are charged with crimes and fingerprinted, and which are not prosecuted, and therefore subjected to federal immigration checks and possible deportation.

Ms. Heffernan also said some law enforcement officials in the state "fear the program is overly broad and may deter the reporting of criminal activity."

Mr. Fattman acknowledged that people could be deported after an arrest even if they are not convicted of a crime, under the program in use in more than 30 states.

While citizens have the right to be viewed as innocent until found guilty in court, he said, "I don't think that principle extends to illegal immigrants." He said he had no concerns about any racial profiling by police.

In the letter Ms. Heffernan said while the state goal of the program is to remove illegal immigrants who commit serious crimes, the Patrick administration found only one of four deportees under the program nationally were convicted of a serious crime.

She said a Boston pilot program found that almost half of those deported under the secure communities act were identified as "non-criminal."

Mr. Fattman said he is not worried about those distinctions.

"If they are here illegally, they have committed a crime," he said. However, under federal law, illegal status is usually a civil offense.

"My philosophy is a little different," Mr. Fattman said. He said he believes all illegal immigrants should be deported, including the children of illegal immigrants who came with their parents to the U.S.

Others have criticized the federal program, saying it would put children of illegal immigrants in danger of being deported.

Mr. Kuros said he was frustrated to see Mr. Patrick "siding with criminal illegal aliens over legal Massachusetts citizens."

Mr. Levy said the governor was putting the interests of illegal immigration groups ahead of public safety. Mr. Kuros said the Boston pilot shows the program works.

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Lawmaker explains immigration remarks

By Travis Andersen
Globe Staff / June 11, 2011


A freshman state lawmaker defended yesterday statements he made earlier in the week that suggested that illegal immigrants who are raped should be afraid to contact police, saying that his remarks were “misportrayed’’ in a newspaper article.

Asked if he felt rape victims living in Massachusetts illegally would be afraid to report the crime if the state endorsed a controversial federal immigration policy, state Representative Ryan C. Fattman, a Sutton Republican, said, “My thought is that if someone is here illegally, they should be afraid to come forward,’’ according to an account published Wednesday in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.


In a statement yesterday, Fattman said that in response to hypothetical scenarios posed by a reporter about immigration, “I responded that I was not concerned with hypothetical situations, but rather real-life situations affecting people who properly obtain their immigration status. . I do and always will feel compassion towards victims of violent crimes.


“I believe that a victim of any crime should not be afraid to come forward to law enforcement officials.’’


Fattman, 26, came under fire yesterday from advocates for immigrants and sexual assault victims.


Eva Millona, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, said in a statement that Fattman’s comments were “the latest ugly illustration of how the immigration debate has sunk to a new low’’ and were “an insult to basic human dignity.’’


In the same statement, Mary Lauby, executive director of Boston-based Jane Doe Inc., said Fattman “owes all victims of sexual violence . . . a thorough and sincere apology.’’


Fattman said he supports the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center, a resource center for victims. He said in e-mail that all survivors of rape are entitled to the services of victim advocates, regardless of their immigration status.


Fattman gave the interview to the Telegram & Gazette after Governor Deval Patrick said on Monday that he would not endorse the federal Secure Communities program, an initiative slated for nationwide implementation in 2013 in which fingerprints of every person arrested will be sent to the US Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.


Suspects living in the United States illegally will face possible deportation under the program. Patrick and other critics of the initiative say it may encourage ethnic profiling and discourage immigrants from reporting crime, among other pitfalls.


An official with the US Department of Homeland Security told the Globe Monday that Patrick’s refusal to sign on to the program will do little to forestall its expansion in the state in 2013.

www.boston.com