Immigration at the Border
Immigration Reform Raises Revenue, While Enforcement-Only Strategies Throw Tax Dollars Away
Tax Day is a fitting time to consider the billions of dollars which the federal government wastes each year attempting to put a stop to unauthorized immigration through an “enforcement only” strategy—and the billions of new taxpayer dollars which would flow from comprehensive immigration reform that includes a pathway to legal status for unauthorized immigrants already in the United States. As the IPC points out in a new fact sheet, “we spend huge sums of taxpayer money on immigration enforcement, yet unauthorized immigrants have not been deterred from coming to the United States when there are jobs available.” As a result, enforcement resources are needlessly wasted tracking down unauthorized job seekers and people trying to reunite with family members in the United States, rather than focused on finding individuals who are actually a threat to national security or public safety. Read More
The Rise and Fall of the Secure Border Initiative’s High-Tech Solution to Unauthorized Immigration
The Secure Border Initiative (SBI), launched by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2005, is a cautionary tale of the dangers inherent in seeking a technological quick fix to the problem of unauthorized immigration. SBI calls not only for fencing the U.S.-Mexico border in the literal sense, but constructing a “virtual fence” as well. Since physical fencing can be climbed over, broken through, or dug under, it is complemented in SBI by a system of cameras and sensors—known as “SBInet”—that will, in theory, alert the Border Patrol whenever an unauthorized border crossing occurs. Read More
Punitive Arizona Immigration Measure Makes Headlines (Again)!
Arizona has made national headlines again. It is not a moment of pride. On Tuesday, the Arizona House of Representatives passed SB 1070, a bill that makes it a misdemeanor to fail to carry proper immigration documents and requires police to determine a person’s immigration status if they have “reasonable suspicion” that the person is an unauthorized immigrant. The bill passed along party lines, and Republican Gov. Jan Brewer is expected to sign the bill. If she does, it will usher in a new, shameful era of profiling and abuse. For the Latino community, most of whom have families with roots that go back generations and whose culture is an integral part of Arizona, it means that they will be required to carry papers proving that they belong. The suspicion, anger, and resentment will be palpable. Read More
Immigration Advocates Call for an End to ICE’s Failed 287(g) Program
Today, a group of immigration reform advocates called for an end to the controversial 287(g) program, labeling it a “failed experiment.” Speakers from labor organizations and immigration advocacy groups said the expansion and continued failure of this enforcement program is a “worrying signal on the President’s commitment” to reforming our immigration system. They went as far as to say that “the only thing that has changed since George Bush left the White House is that now President Obama is sanctioning Sheriff Joe (the controversial Arizona Sheriff) to terrorize Latinos.” Read More
So-Called ‘Smart Enforcement’ Cuts Corners on Immigrants Rights
In a March 29 meeting with immigration advocates that I attended, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) chief John Morton asked to be judged on ICE’s record, not on rumors. But that’s just why I’m concerned. At a hastily called meeting following the leak of a memo setting quotas for non-criminal removals, Morton repudiated the February 2010 memo, but not earlier “performance standards” which set numbers for identifying and removing non-citizens in jails. He claimed that the law required him both to fill—not just have available—33,400 detention beds a day and to implement the 287(g) program, a voluntary arrangement which shifts immigration enforcement authority to state and local police. This was a surprise to the advocates in the room, since the law authorizes, but does not require, ICE to fill detention beds or impose state and local agreements. Read More
Tip of the ICEberg
The irony of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s acronym—ICE—has never been lost on anyone, including the agency itself. Shortly after its formation, posters appeared in government offices of an iceberg as big as the one that sunk the Titanic with the motto: ICE---What you see is just the tip of the iceberg. The idea was to emphasize just how much ICE did and how much of it went on quietly and behind the scenes. Read More
Local Enforcement of Immigration Laws Through the 287(g) Program
Updated 04/02/10 Since 2004, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) has greatly expanded its partnerships with local police through the 287(g) program. As of March 2010, more than 1,075 local officers have been trained and certified through the program under the 67 active Memoranda of Agreement (MOAs) in 24 states. However, while the number of MOAs has increased, the numerous problems surrounding them have also become more apparent. Recent reports have found that 287(g) agreements are costing localities millions to implement while ICE provides little oversight and support to the program. Additionally, crime-solving activities are being compromised, the trust between police and community is eroding, and accusations of racial profiling and civil rights violations are on the rise. Furthermore 287 (g) agreements are being used as political tools that interfere with the kind of true community policing that protect and serve our communities. Read More
Enforcement Gone Wild
Washington, D.C. – Today, the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) issued a long-awaited report that offers a damning critique of the 287(g) program, confirming many of the criticisms levied against the program by community leaders, law enforcement officials, and immigration groups, including the Immigration Policy… Read More
Immigration Reform: The Not So Merry Go Round of Washington Politics
First, Republicans said they wouldn’t work with Democrats on immigration if health care passed—now they will. The Obama administration announced that immigration enforcement would target dangerous criminals only—but as it turns out, they aren’t. Senator Chuck Schumer said we’re moving forward on immigration, while his partner, Senator Lindsey Graham, insists that the President write a bill and take the lead first. Senator John McCain was a staunch immigrant supporter—that is, until he received political challenges from the right. Lou Dobbs hates immigrants—or does he? Immigration reform is dead, alive, dead, no alive. Our nation is facing a deficit and immigration reform could help fill the hole—but some feel that reform is too big a lift. If you aren’t studying the day-to-day actions of politicians and administration types in Washington, you can miss a lot. And if you are, it’s all a bit dizzying. Read More
ICE Slip Up Casts Serious Doubt on Immigration Enforcement Strategy
Over the last week, there has been a great deal of outrage, confusion, and backtracking on the issue of who and how many people the U.S. government deports. Faced with a great deal of criticism for Bush-style enforcement, the Administration announced last year that it would no longer be conducting large scale worksite raids, and that worksite enforcement would focus on employers. At the same time, the Administration also stated that it would shift the focus of enforcement to “criminal aliens”—the “worst of the worst.” Programs like Secure Communities, which identifies immigrants who are in local jails and are deportable, have helped to make that shift—at least in rhetoric (whether or not immigrants identified as criminals are really criminals is another post). Read More
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