If you liked secret detentions, government eavesdropping on attorney-client conversations and the equating of dissent with treason, you’ll love the latest from the U.S. Department of Justice. The DOJ is poised to give state and local law-enforcement agencies the authority to enforce federal immigration laws.
Checking up on immigrants living in this country is a terrible use of these law-enforcement officers’ time.
To rationalize this about-face from long-standing policy, the DOJ has come up with the nonsensical line of reasoning that because state and local governments are “sovereign entities” they somehow have an “inherent power” to become deputy Immigration and Naturalization Services unto themselves. Odd, isn’t it–invoking states’ rights to extend the reach of the federal government?
For now, this new proposal seems to be on hold. The Bush White House wants to look at it more carefully before proceeding, due to its initial bad reception. But there are plenty of reasons to be alarmed by the possibility of the idea becoming a reality.
Police are not immigration experts. The idea that a state or local law-enforcement agency could be converted overnight into a mini-INS trivializes both the rigorous training that police officers must undergo to earn the public’s trust, and the expertise needed to navigate the complex American immigration system.
Indeed, the policy looks like it is intended to circumvent the 1996 immigration law changes that allowed the INS to work with local agencies only if they received “adequate training” in immigration law enforcement. But not one local agency has signed a cooperation agreement in the intervening six years. Apparently, the DOJ hopes to get someone involved by doing away with the troublesome training requirement.
Police don’t want to be the INS. Many police departments across the country don’t want anything to do with the plan because, they say, it would dramatically undercut their effectiveness in the communities they serve. Bob McDonell, president of the California Police Chiefs Association, told the Los Angeles Times that “We have undocumented immigrants in our communities who are also victims and witnesses [of crime]. We have been trying to build relationships with them over the years in an attempt to make them comfortable talking with us.” This would all be lost if the police suddenly became a stand-in for La Migra.
Nothing is gained by creating fear and mistrust among the immigrant community.
Past experience shows it would be a disaster. In July 1997, the INS and the Chandler, Ariz., police conducted an immigration sweep called “Operation Restoration.” During its five days, Chandler police demanded “proof of citizenship” from thousands of people based largely on their appearance.
Those who couldn’t produce adequate proof on the spot–including U.S. citizens and legal residents–were typically arrested. How many of us carry our passports around, anyway?
The ensuing outrage and the Arizona attorney general’s finding of massive civil-rights violations, led to a federal court order barring Chandler police from ever again dabbling in immigration enforcement.
The Chandler episode is shocking, but unsurprising. What do we expect when police are ordered to do something they are not trained to do? Chandler’s resort to common stereotypes and prejudices was almost inevitable. Persons of “Latino appearance” (whatever that is), or who speak English with an accent, or who dress a certain way, would be the policy’s first victims.
Instead of taking this dangerous step toward a national police force, the Department of Justice should allow cops to focus on real crime. Let the INS do its own work.
