Posted on 06/23/2011 3:07:20 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
EARLIER this month, New York and Massachusetts joined Illinois in withdrawing from Secure Communities, the promising immigration enforcement program that the Obama administration hopes to extend nationwide by 2013. The effort, begun in 2008 and since expanded to nearly 1,800 jurisdictions in 43 states and territories, links federal, state and local arrest data with the immigration status and fingerprint records of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency; the agency then uses that information to decide whether to deport lawbreakers.
....Much of the strife over Secure Communities is simply political: most voters favor expanding deportation, while immigrant advocacy groups pressure politicians to oppose anything that might risk racial profiling or disrupt immigrant families. The result is a patchwork of state laws — some harsh, some lenient — overlaid by a Secure Communities program that some key states are now attacking. This stalemate not only undermines enforcement, but also impedes other needed reforms, like a carefully qualified amnesty for some of the more than 10 million undocumented immigrants living here.
....Secure Communities is an essential program that is beginning to reshape its priorities. The three governors who have abandoned the program rather than working to improve it seem to be making a grand gesture intended more to impress their political bases than to strengthen immigration enforcement.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Last week, before Gov. Rick Perry's announcement that the expansion of Secure Communities would be on the agenda for the Legislature's special session, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick announced his state will not take part in the program. [end excerpt]
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Aug 28, 2007 - [excerpt]....Perry, in Mexico with a Texan trade mission seeking opportunities in areas like renewable energy, said the federal government's plan to build a wall along much of the border to keep out illegal immigrants was "idiocy."
"We need those individuals to continue to grow our economy," Perry told a briefing with reporters.
"If you show up illegally, without your card or you're here as a criminal element, I'm for throwing the book at those folks, but the issue of people who want to legally, thoughtfully and appropriately come to America to work and help us build our economy -- we should quickly come up with a program and an identification card to do that."
Congress failed to pass a comprehensive overhaul of immigration laws in June despite heavy lobbying by President George W. Bush.
Following the reform failure, Washington is concentrating on border enforcement -- building a security fence along the Mexican border, deporting undocumented immigrants and trying to prevent companies from hiring illegal migrants..
Perry, a Republican, said it was important to separate immigration from security issues, which Texas has dealt with on its stretch of the Mexican border by deploying more guards.
"We know how to deal with border security, and you don't do it by building a fence," Perry said, ahead of a meeting with Mexican President Felipe Calderon.... [end excerpt]
TEXAS GOVERNOR RICK PERRY CHALLENGES OBAMA, THE DOJ AND TSA [excerpt].....When Obama continued to refuse even five minutes for the Governor, Perry took matters into this own hands and was standing on the tarmac at Austin’s airport when President Obama stepped off of Air Force One. Obama looked confused, Perry looked determined. Obama still ignored the pleas for help.
Perry again took matters into his own hands, and established an elite unit of Texas Rangers to bolster border security.
Perry also challenged the administration just a few weeks ago when FEMA refused to declare a federal major disaster following wildfires that consumed over 2 million acres in Texas.
“Now the citizens of Texas—and even the nation—are watching to see if Texas lawmakers will stand tall with Governor Perry for the constitutional rights and the dignity of our people,” said Texas Rep. David Simpson, who wrote HB 41.
State Senator Dan Patrick who is gathering votes for the bill in the Texas Senate said, “The people’s voice has been heard in Austin. Thanks for the literally thousands of calls & e-mails. This is a ‘Come & Take It Moment’ again for Texas. Once again Texas will take a stand that will reverberate around the nation.” [end excerpt]
On Tuesday, Perry, the chairman of the Republican Governors Association, spoke at a fundraiser in St. Louis. On Thursday he’ll be in San Antonio to sign a bill at Boeing Co.’s production plant that will reduce taxes on the 787 Dreamliners built there.
He’ll also speak to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials at its convention Thursday in San Antonio, a speech to watch since many Hispanics are opposed to Perry’s support for a new law requiring identification at the ballot box and for pending Texas legislation that would block state aid to local governments that prohibit police from asking people about their immigration status.
Perry’s relationship to Hispanics, the nation’s fastest-growing voting bloc, is complex, given his pro-family, anti-abortion agenda and strong anti-illegal immigration position as a Mexican border governor.
As part of his conservative social-issues credentials, he’s invited the nation’s governors to a “national day of prayer and fasting” Aug. 6 in Houston, a move that gives him a platform to court evangelicals.....” Source
The problem with Perry and his ilk, those who were for immigration reform (amnesty) in the past, and how now claim to be for strict border enforcement, is that I cannot trust them. They WILL be swayed by cries of racism, profiling, etc. to once again change their minds.
Patrick in MA was overridden by the Feds, so their point is moot.
Ever get the feeling that Texas as is the anti-california?
You spin instead of thinking.
Ping!
Perry is a piece of shit!
And how do you define Obama?
same thing!
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