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Old 09-19-2012, 03:31 PM
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Jeanfromfillmore Jeanfromfillmore is offline
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Default Father of murdered teen urges Gov. Brown to veto bill

Father of murdered teen urges Gov. Brown to veto bill ordering illegal immigrants released


A California father whose son was murdered execution-style in 2008 by an illegal immigrant gangster has launched a campaign to persuade Gov. Jerry Brown to veto a bill that would have police release illegal immigrants into the streets even when the feds want them detained.

The controversial bill, which passed the legislature in August, would compel local law enforcement in most cases to ignore requests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to hold illegal immigrants if they could otherwise be released.

Advocates say it's a way for police to build "trust" with local communities -- the name of the bill is the TRUST Act. But opponents warn the policy could have dangerous consequences.

The bill "will have real and potentially devastating consequences for people across our state," Jamiel Shaw Sr., whose 17-year-old son was killed, said in a statement.

Shaw separately put out a web video appealing to Brown to reject the bill.
"Would you want that to happen to your son? ... How many have to die by people being let out into the streets from the county jail that should be deported," he said in the video. "No one should have to go through losing a child."


Shaw's son Jamiel Shaw Jr., a high school football player, was killed in 2008 by a member of the 18th Street Gang hours after he had been released from a local jail. Pedro Espinoza was found guilty of the murder, in which he shot Shaw twice after mistaking him for a rival gang member. A jury recommended the death penalty for Espinoza earlier this year.

Bob Dane, a spokesman at the Federation for American Immigration Reform, said California would open the door to a rampant public safety threat -- as well as additional financial burden on the state -- if the governor lets the bill become law. He noted Brown could opt to take no action on the bill, allowing it to become law by default.

"It's the perfect storm for complete lawlessness," he told FoxNews.com, saying the state would be rolling out "the welcome mat" for illegal immigrants and become even more of a magnet.

"This is not the work of responsible custodians of the public trust," he said.
The bill would compel law enforcement in California to release illegal immigrants once they become eligible -- even if ICE wants them held -- unless the individual has been convicted of a "serious or violent felony."
Supporters cited the financial burden on local communities that hold these detainees for ICE and the potential erosion of trust with police.

In a Sept. 13 letter to Brown signed by House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic members of the California congressional delegation, supporters urged the governor to sign the bill. They cited accounts that a federal program called Secure Communities "currently erodes trust between local communities and law enforcement."

"They report that the initiative already has reduced the willingness of immigrant and non-immigrant crime victims and witnesses to cooperate with law enforcement and has consequently diminished public safety," they wrote. The suggestion is that illegal immigrants would be reluctant to report crimes out of concern ICE would come after them.

Secure Communities is a program that allows federal immigration agents to work with local officials to determine who in local jails might be deportable.
But Shaw argues that police in California are not interested in checking the immigration status of people who report or witness crimes.

Further, he argues that in California in particular, illegal immigrants are not fearful of law enforcement.
Federal immigration officials have defended the Secure Communities program, which they say has helped the agency remove nearly 150,000 convicted criminals to date -- including murderers and rapists.

ICE Director John Morton wrote in an Aug. 23 letter to FAIR that communities that ignore ICE requests to hold detainees "are undermining public safety in their communities by exposing their local communities to risks from suspected and convicted sex offenders, weapons violators, drunk drivers and other violent criminals."

"These are not hypothetical risks," he wrote. The letter was in reference to a separate initiative in Illinois.

ICE spokeswoman Gillian Christensen told FoxNews.com on Wednesday that the agency implements "clear priorities" to focus on convicted criminals. She stressed the importance of local cooperation, without commenting specifically on the California proposal.

"The federal government alone sets these priorities and places detainers on individuals arrested on criminal charges to ensure that dangerous criminal aliens and other priority individuals are not released from prisons/jails and into our communities," she said. "The Administration remains committed to immigration reform and to enforcing current law in a smart and effective manner across the country."


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012...#ixzz26xJpLljS



Letter by Jamiel’s father:
Governor Brown, please veto immigration bill AB 1081


In 2008, my 17-year-old son Jamiel Jr., was brutally murdered just a few feet from his front door by an illegal alien.

Pedro Espinoza was not just any ordinary illegal alien. He was a member of the notorious 18th Street Gang and a member of a subgroup of that criminal organization noted for carrying out murders, often at random.

But the senselessness of Jamiel’s murder doesn’t stop there. Just 36 hours before he gunned down my son, Espinoza had been released from the Los Angeles County jail in spite of the fact that he had a long history of violent crimes. Rather than handing him over to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for removal from the country, county authorities released him back onto the streets of Los Angeles and ultimately to the street on which my family had lived for almost 40 years.


Now, just four years later, our legislature has approved AB 1081, also known as the Trust Act, which will make it extremely likely that other families will suffer the same fate that befell ours. The only thing standing between deportable criminals being turned loose all across California is Gov. Jerry Brown and his veto pen. For the sake of public safety, if not plain common sense, Gov. Brown must veto this irresponsible legislation.

If AB 1081 were to become law, either because the governor signs the bill, or allows it to take effect without his signature, California law enforcement agencies will be prohibited from honoring detainer requests from ICE, except in very limited circumstances. In order for California authorities to detain an illegal alien they have arrested for some other offense, under AB 1081, that alien must already have been convicted of a serious or violent felony, or be charged with such a felony.

The pretense offered by AB 1081’s supporters – that such a law is necessary to establish a bond of trust between police and people who are living here illegally – simply doesn’t hold up to scrutiny.

Police in California and many other places around the country are not interested in people’s immigration status when they report or witness a crime. Illegal aliens appear on the cover of Time magazine, address a national political convention, and seek admission to the California bar. They are hardly fearful of law enforcement.

This legislation is nothing more than a political statement by a legislature that, through countless acts, is bent upon demonstrating its contempt for the nation’s immigration laws.

Meanwhile, AB 1081 will have real and potentially devastating consequences for people across our state. Sadly, my family is not the only one in California to have lost loved ones at the hands of criminal aliens who had been in police custody, but were released back into the community instead of being remanded to ICE for deportation. As someone who has paid the ultimate price, I hope to spare other families the agony of a similar needless tragedy.
My son was a star athlete, an exemplary student, and fine young man. He was being recruited by Stanford and other prestigious universities to play football and pursue his education. Jamiel never got that chance, because the city and county in which he lived maintain strict sanctuary policies. As a result, authorities chose to release a cold-blooded killer from jail because they did not deem Espinoza dangerous enough to turn over to ICE for deportation. Such policies must not be allowed to become the law in California.

The people of California are running out of time and options. Governor Brown, please do the right thing and veto AB 1081.

Jamiel Shaw Sr. is the father of Jamiel Shaw Jr., a high school football star who was gunned down near his home in Los Angeles, California.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/...#ixzz26xKfdRUl
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