Thread: Feds deportation program hits wrong targets

Fresno Co. cases are mostly non-criminal.

Posted at 10:17 PM on Friday, Aug. 19, 2011

By John Ellis / The Fresno Bee


A federal program to step up deportations of criminal illegal immigrants routinely misses its mark in Fresno County.

The Secure Communities program has led to 687 deportations in the first 15 months since U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement brought it to Fresno County.

But more than half of those deportees were "non-criminal immigration violators," while an additional 17% were misdemeanor offenders – and neither category is part of the federal program's target.

Federal data show that those who were previously deported make up the bulk of Fresno County's "non-criminal immigration violators" – those previously deported or who violated their visas, as well as fugitives from ICE.

This shows a problem, said Fresno immigration advocate Rosemary Moreno. "Community security to me is making sure



nobody breaks into your car, nobody breaks into your house – not this," she said.

Moreno is one of several who say the program – in which local law enforcement shares fingerprint information with federal immigration authorities – is casting a net that is too wide and is making undocumented residents afraid to cooperate with police.

Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer and Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims say they are trying to assure crime victims that they won't be deported if they cooperate with police agencies.

Federal officials defend Secure Communities and remain committed to expanding it across the nation.

Still, the national numbers aren't hitting the program's intended target, either. Of 115,000 deported since 2008 when the program started, only 30,000 were violent felons, but 33,000 were removed without ever being convicted of non-immigration crimes.

"My opinion is that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is very zealous in their job and they feel like for some reason, the more people that they can arrest and deport, the better," said Camille Cook, an immigration attorney in Fresno.

A federal advisory committee is looking at ways to improve the program, according to ICE documents, including recommendations on how to best focus on "individuals who pose a true public safety or national security threat."

And on Thursday, the Obama administration said it will review the cases of 300,000 illegal immigrants now in deportation proceedings to identify "low-priority" offenders – including the elderly, crime victims and people who have lived in the U.S. since childhood – with an eye toward allowing them to stay. By launching the case-by-case review, officials said they are refocusing deportation efforts on convicted felons and other "public safety threats."



Creates distrust?


The program – launched in 2008 – was set up to remove criminal illegal immigrants not only by sharing fingerprints from local jails and police stations with criminal databases, but with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as well.

ICE officials have said the program is focused on the most dangerous criminals – those accused or convicted of aggravated felonies such as murder and rape.

That's good, Dyer said. "Like any other system, if it's utilized correctly, it promotes community safety, or in this case, national security. But if it's simply used for the purpose of accelerating deportation of undocumented immigrants, it creates fear and distrust in the immigrant community."

Police rely on the community to be its eyes and ears – especially in these tough budget times. But as Dyer said: If an illegal immigrant who is the sole witness to a homicide is fearful of coming forward to police, it is bad.


Read more: http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/08/19/250 ... z1VdLPtfwp

Hey look here, this ridiculous notion that an illegal alien who is caught committing non-immigration laws is a worser illegal alien that one who hasn't been caught needs to be dispensed with.

US immigration law wasn't written to complement criminal law. We already have separate criminal laws to deal with criminals and the FBI and States and Local Communities deal with those every single day.

US immigration law was written to deal with illegal aliens in the United States, to catch them, give them a hearing to verify their illegal status and then deport them. Period. It's not complicated. It's very simple.

Now just shut up and get out there and do it. And do it quickly, because time is of the essence. Every illegal alien costs someone their job or a taxpayer their money. Every illegal alien is a detriment to our country because they're in the wrong country. That is the crime, being where they aren't supposed to be, doing things they aren't supposed to do here.

Keep it simple, and GET R DONE. These people have to go, all of them, without bias, prejudice or mercy.

Period.

Well said Judy!!

Originally Posted by Kiara

Well said Judy!!

Thank you Kiara!