Potential tool for immigrant crime

[ilbegone]

Editorial in The San Bernardino County Sun

Potential tool for immigrant crime

10/15/2010

While Washington lawmakers remain mired in the seemingly intractable problem of dealing with illegal immigration, the Obama administration has just logged the largest number of deportations in history.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says more than 392,000 illegal immigrants were deported from the United States in fiscal year 2010, which ended Sept. 30.

That's 3,000 more deportations than the previous record, set in 2009.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement attributes the slight increase in deportations to a combination of stepped-up border enforcement and an expansion of the department's Secure Communities program, according to recent news reports.

Secure Communities works by having officials check the immigration status of anyone arrested and booked into jail. Those jailed have their fingerprints checked against immigration records. When a person is determined to be in the country illegally, ICE is alerted.

From there, ICE prioritizes those accused of more serious crimes for deportation. ICE is focused on those who pose a national security or public safety threat.

The Secure Communities program has expanded from 14 jurisdictions in 2008 to more than 660, including San Bernardino County. Napolitano wants to expand it to all jurisdictions by 2013.

We acknowledge that Secure Communities is only one tool, and that it is far from perfect. It's also a reminder that immigration reform has a long way to go.

For example, last week in Denver, an illegal immigrant was apparently involved in a high- speed crash that killed a popular community college professor. Brought to Denver by his parents as a child, the man spoke English so well that officers appear to have believed he was a legal resident. Whether he was in the country illegally had also apparently never been questioned during his previous arrests and convictions.

Secure Communities likely wouldn't have flagged him, because its database only contains the fingerprints of those immigrants here on a visa and those illegal immigrants who have already been identified by ICE, officials said.

The limitation underscores the need for Congress to deal with immigration in a comprehensive way.

[Rim05]

The limitation underscores the need for Congress to deal with immigration in a comprehensive way.

For get the comprehensive way, we need to get serious about illegalimmigration.

Another thing I am confused about, I hear all the time about how Obama and HomeLandSecurity are doing nothing about deporting and at other times I hear reports such as those above, which is it, it can't be both?

[ilbegone]

Originally Posted by Rim05

For get the comprehensive way, we need to get serious about illegalimmigration.

Another thing I am confused about, I hear all the time about how Obama and HomeLandSecurity are doing nothing about deporting and at other times I hear reports such as those above, which is it, it can't be both?

Actually, it is both answer A and B.

This is how I understand it:

Prior to Obama ascending the throne, most of the inland operations were a minor sideshow to appease the electorate. Ice might take along some media to witness ICE bust a meat processing plant and later quietly let most of the illegals go or the Border Patrol might sift through a Grayhound bus in Southern California and be told by the chain of command to knock it off.

However, Obama is concentrating on illegals who have committed serious crimes and has ordered hands off everyone else. There have actually been more illegals deported under Obama than under any other relatively recent president due to this policy - Democrats don't need the stigma of awarding citizenship to dangerous illegals in the planned amnesty. That would be a gaffe just as ridiculous as Castro emptying his prisons of criminally insane Cubans for Reagan to take into the United States via the 1980 Mariel boat lift.

However, this has earned him a fair amount of scolding from "Latino activists" who oppose any deportations at all and consider it a stab in the back. However, there is little other immigration enforcement taking place - Obama is not about to deport his planned future constituency to be gained through "Comprehensive immigration reform".