Homeland unveils immigration enforcement plan
WASHINGTON — An overhauled federal program allowing local and state law enforcement officials to arrest and deport immigrants will focus on the most serious criminals and limit officers’ police powers, the Homeland Security Department said Friday.
The agency reworked the program, which had been criticized by the Government Accountability Office and led to a Justice Department investigation of the Maricopa County, Ariz., sheriff’s office.
Government investigators said the previous program — cited as an example of misguided immigration enforcement by the Bush administration — did not clearly spell out when and how officers could use their arrest authority.
The revised program now requires local and state law enforcement agencies to first resolve any criminal charges that led to the arrest of the immigrants.
It also creates three priority levels for the immigrants who are to be arrested and detained. Immigrants convicted or arrested of major drug offenses or violent offenses such as murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery or kidnapping are the top priority.
The revamped program creates a consistent standard for state and local agencies and gives law enforcement tools “to identify and remove dangerous criminal aliens,” said Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.
It also establishes a complaint process and requires participating agencies to provide language interpretation, the agency said. All participating officers are bound by federal civil rights regulations and nondiscrimination guidelines.
About 160 of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s deputies and jail officers were trained for immigration enforcement, as required. The Justice Department is investigating allegations of discrimination and unconstitutional searches and seizures by the sheriff’s office, and the Homeland Security Department also is auditing Arpaio’s use of federal immigration powers.
Arpaio denies the allegations. He says his deputies discovered some people were illegal immigrants only after they were approached in sweeps for probable cause.
Arapio had not seen the new program regulations so said he was uncertain whether his agency would participate again. He said his deputies, during the course of their regular duties, arrested nearly 1,700 illegal immigrants on federal immigration violations even though they weren’t charged with state crimes.
Illegal immigrants and legal permanent residents who have committed certain crimes can be deported. Some U.S. citizens and foreign-born U.S. citizens have been detained and deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and local law officers.
Law enforcement agencies must sign an agreement before they can participate in the new so-called 287(g) program, and are given training in exchange.
Sixty-six local and state law enforcement agencies had signed agreements to participate in the previous program. Those agreements were suspended.
Agreements are pending with 11 communities who were not in the previous program, said Homeland Security spokesman Matthew Chandler. The agreements themselves will not be made public because they are law enforcement sensitive, he said.
Monmouth County, N.J., Sheriff Kim Guadagno, whose department is seeking an agreement, said, “If you are an illegal alien and commit a crime in Monmouth County, you will be identified, turned over to federal authorities and deported if appropriate.”
The other 10 agencies with accepted applications are Gwinnett County, Ga., Sheriff’s Department; Rhode Island Department of Corrections; Delaware Department of Corrections Sussex Correctional Institution; Houston Police Department; Mesquite, Nev., Police Department; Morristown, N.J., Police Department; Mesa, Ariz., Police Department; Florence, Ariz., Police Department; Guilford County, N.C., Sheriff’s Office; Charleston County, S.C., Sheriff’s Office.
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Associated Press writers Jacques Billeaud in Phoenix and Samantha Henry in Trenton, N.J., contributed to this report.
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On the Net: Homeland Security Department: www.dhs.gov
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July 11th, 2009 at 3:31 am
American Workers can breath a sigh of relief, as for once our politicians are listening to us all? Well! Not quite? They have instituted E-Verify, the illegal worker extraction process from the workplace? BUT TELL ME WHY IT DOESN’T COVER EVERYBODY WHO COLLECTS A PAYROLL CHECK? Not just the new arrival workers, but everybody who works for the company? American citizens and legal residents, don’t care about checking their identity, unless they have something to hide? But E-Verify will trap illegal trap people offering illegal Social Security Numbers and bogus ID papers. What’s significant is that E-Verify is not in stasis, but being upgraded, modified all the time. All irregularities can be checked out at the Social Security office. Not a good place where illegal workers would enter. Almost every law on the books that includes 287(g) for local enforcement is always weakened or even snuffed out by political conspirators. Any activist knows whose behind annulling the 287(g) police questioning, arrest and detain of illegal aliens? Our lady at the Homeland Security office, Madam Janet Napolitano. She keeps opening her mouth and with a forked tongue, swears she adamantly supported E-Verify and other programs, while secretly she and her minions underfund working laws, just as she did when she was governor of Arizona?
If it really is being made MANDATORY for all federal employees and contractors? What reason are they arguing that it shouldn’t be MANDATORY in every business throughout America? Every patriotic employer should use the E-Verification process? Unfortunately it’s still voluntary for the public sector, which I am sure has been strongly influenced by US Chamber of Commerce, ACLU, Cato Institute and Council of Foreign Relations. Please don’t take my word for the ominous agendas of these organizations? Allow yourself to–GOOGLE– the rancid truth by surfing the Internet about these outfits? These are all anti-sovereignty, pro-illegal–CHEAP LABOR ENTITIES. They refuse any restrictions of any–REAL BORDER ENFORCEMENT?
The next step is to push our SENATORS AND CONGRESSMAN to implement rigid INTERIOR ENFORCEMENT. An army of E-Verify federal inspectors to make unannounced visits to Human Resources, stores, factories, industry, businesses with a general warrant to audit books around the country. This would certainly
be a parasite employers nightmare and hold their feet to the proverbial fire. Those who consider hiring illegal cheap labor will instantly condemn themselves to heavy fine, confiscation of business asset and even a prison term if caught with the undocumented labor.
Always the ACLU, the subversive La Raza (THE RACE) is up front with filing lawsuits, against any town that considers ordinances to stop illegal immigrants from settling there. These are–ALL OPEN BORDER ZEALOTS–Brought and paid for by corporate money. If we didn’t have sincere patriotic Senators like Sessions, E-Verify would have been tabled and hidden away from public view. Outside of the main Washington political elitists, very few listen to the voices of the American Worker who every day compete for jobs that foreign labor steal. My guess is the Democrats have allowed the authorization of a permanent E-Verify, knowing full well the Chuck Schumer Immigration Reform–BLANKET AMNESTY will make it worthless tool anyway?
Giving 13 to 20 million plus families who rely heavily on government benefits will bankrupt America, according to the estimate of 2.5 Trillion dollars, Robert Rector at the Heritage Foundation. Then their is the next tsunami of poor people expecting to benefit from a further Amnesty, waiting patiently in other impoverished societies around the earth. CALL YOUR POLITICIAN DEMANDING A MANDATED E-VERIFY, NO AMNESTY! 202-224-3121. Honest facts at NUMBERSUSA, CAPSWEB, AMERICANPATROL & FAIR. ANOTHER AMNESTY WILL LEAD TO IRREVERSIBLE OVERPOPULATION! IF YOU SEE SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY CALL ICE.