As you already know, the New York State and federal governments are both broke. Since both refuse to raise taxes on anyone that can actually afford to pay them, both have had to resort to drastic spending cuts. Given this fact, it seems odd that both would waste money better spent on social services on the Secure Communities Program. According to the New York Civil Liberties Union, the Secure Communities Program allows police to detain people accused of even minor crimes and possibly deport them merely because they match a vague description. It does not matter if that person is actually guilty of the crime they were originally arrested for. The result is increased racial profiling, families separated indefinitely for no reason and further distrust between police and immigrant communities.
The program also lacks oversight and accountability. Consequently, it is not known if abuses are occurring. The little federal data that can be found suggests that approximately 80% of all people picked up under the program were arrested for either low-level offenses or had no criminal record. Clearly, the program does not get rid of the dangerous criminals that it claims to.
At a time when many are out of work and need help, does it not seem frivolous to spend money in such a way? Do we not have bigger problems than deporting accused minor criminals? Furthermore, this data makes us confront the false stereotype that all illegal immigrants are dangerous criminals. In fact, the federal government’s own data disproves the stereotype. If you believe that there are more important things to spend our money on, sign the petition to get New York out of the Secure Communities Program. You can sign the petition at https://secure.aclu.org/site/SPageNavigator/NY_StopSCom.html?JServSessionIdr004=0xnw7zwy81.app223a.
Comments