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Napolitano weakens illegal immigration rule enforcement
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AP photo-Janet Napolitano
In a press release on July 10th, 2009, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has standardized the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) used to enter into ‘287(g)’ partnerships. Section 287(g) was originally added to the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRAIRA) of 1996, ostensibly to empower local law enforcement jurisdictions to aid in the apprehension of illegal aliens.
However, Napolitano’s new MOA indicates that in fact, she believes the 287(g) has not been employed in the spirit of its original intent in certain jurisdictions. She goes on to explain, “This new agreement supports local efforts to protect public safety by giving law enforcement the tools to identify and remove dangerous criminal aliens.”
The press release continues; “To address concerns that individuals may be arrested for minor offenses as a guise to initiate removal proceedings, the new agreement explains that participating local law enforcement agencies are required to pursue all criminal charges that originally caused the offender to be taken into custody.”
Are you getting this? From the standpoint of the Department of Homeland Security, entering the country illegally in and of itself is not a sufficient crime to justify arrest and prosecution. Apparently there is a threshold for acceptable and unacceptable illegal aliens. “Serious criminal” illegals will not be tolerated, but law abiding illegal aliens (try figuring that one out) are welcome to stay.
Many believe this policy change was initiated primarily because of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio who has been at the forefront of using the 287(g) agreement. In fact, illegal alien rights groups and pandering politicians were quick to seize the opportunity to praise Napolitano and criticize Arpaio.
Unionvoice.org, a labor organization, issued this statement on their website; “In recent months, the hard work of many has raised the profile of Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the most infamous Sheriff since Bull Connor, as the ugliest face of the failed national 287(g) program. The Sheriff's march of migrant inmates in a chain gang the New York Times described as ‘ritual humiliation’ revealed the racial profiling and terror he's carried out on Maricopa County, and made urgent the need for federal intervention.”
Even Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, always looking for potential votes, was quick to react in his criticism of Arpaio in a myfoxnews.com story. “Let me be blunt, this confirms that Homeland Security has taken the concerns about Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s abuses and misallocation of resources seriously. He can no longer hide behind the illusion that breaking up families at car washes and amusement parks is somehow making us safer as a community."
That statement is fairly remarkable considering Arizona’s current 2.6 billion dollar budget deficit. Perhaps the $1 billion paid annually to illegal aliens in services for schools, medical care, welfare anchor babies and prisons is of no consequence to Mayor Gordon, but Arizona families facing tax increases and dstruggling under the weight of a devastated economy and declining home values might feel very differently.
For his part, Arpaio remains steadfast and defiant. In a Wall Street journal story, he said “If I’m told not to enforce immigration law except if the alien is a violent criminal, my answer to that is we are still going to do the same thing, 287g or not.”
As always, Arpaio continues to do exactly what he was elected to do; simply enforce the law.
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