Posted on 03/22/2007 8:53:36 AM PDT by Behind Liberal Lines
Representatives on the City of Ithaca Common Council withdrew recently a resolution that would make official the City of Ithaca's government position on immigration enforcement over concerns about the wording and clarity of the resolution. It is expected to be on the April agenda for the council.
The resolution was drawn up and reviewed in the City Administration Committee meeting. It was in this meeting that some people started to have doubts about the particular wording of the bill, which uses powerful language to express the City's opposition to immigration enforcement.
"There were some questions related to the resolution that we were not able to put to either [Police Chief] Lauren Signer or the City Attorney, because, much to my chagrin, I forgot to ask them to come to the meeting," explained Councilwoman Maria Coles.
"So we could not ask them questions that were related to the resolution."
"We all desperately wanted the resolution to go to the Common Council meeting in March," said Coles.
The resolution draft reads, in part:
"Whereas, reliable published reports indicate a dramatic increase in enforcement of immigration laws in New York and elsewhere, and
whereas, those reports further indicate that such enforcement measures have created a climate of fear among New York's non-citizen population, and
whereas, as a result of such enforcement measures, such families have been broken up, with parents forcibly separated from children, and in some cases, families forced to flee their homes and seek shelter wherever possible
now, therefore, be it resolved, that the City of Ithaca stands opposed to the overbearing, frightening and cruel activities of the U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement agency in allegedly enforcing immigration laws against non-citizens in the State of New York, and, be it further
resolved, that the Ithaca Police Department is requested to refrain from participating in the enforcement of immigration laws except when specifically requested by federal officials in relation to particularized suspicion of criminal activity other than the mere presence of an individual in the City of Ithaca."
Coles explained that, because of the unique considerations of such a resolution, there was a desire to make sure that every question was answered before the resolution came before Common Council. And because of the unique considerations of the resolution, many of these questions were directed to the City Attorney Daniel Hoffman, and Ithaca Police Chief Lauren Signer.
"Concerns were raised about the wording of it," said Hoffman of the resolution. "Concerns were raised by the police department about some of the substantive aspects of it, including the concept wherein the police department would be asked to refrain from participating in the enforcement of immigration laws except under certain circumstances, and the police chief had some questions about whether that was the right course of action to take."
"I wouldn't characterize this as selective enforcement," added Hoffman. "And what I've heard are concerns about whether the intentions of this resolution would be fully satisfied by what is actually set forth [in the proposition]. Would it help and respect illegal immigrants, or could it end up making things more difficult?"
The issue of the effects of the resolution, if passed, has been up for debate. There have been incidences in Ithaca's past where illegal immigrants and undocumented workers were made to work in area businesses and paid far less than the legal minimum wage. There are concerns that such a resolution might inadvertently weaken the ability of the police to prevent or prosecute such abuses.
"The interesting thing is that we are not necessarily opposed, we meaning law enforcement and the legislature," said police chief Signer. "But the wording [in the resolution] is very strong, and the wording is, to us, very negative. It implies that we, as a local law enforcement agency, already use similar tactics to what that they are criticizing of federal agencies and that is not the case."
Chief Signer said that, since the withdrawal of the resolution, she has spent time with members of the Council and the city attorney answering questions and explaining that, while her department supports federal law enforcement, they don't use the same tactics.
"We represent much more the values and concerns of this community, because this is where we work and these are the people that we work for," said Signer.
"There isn't even necessarily a need for this type of legislation."
Signer said that there are two issues that face the police department in dealing with illegal immigration. "One, we already have procedures in place for supporting the federal government on issues of immigration, which we rarely ever need to do," she explained. "And secondly, we don't have a choice. We're subordinate to federal authority. So you can pass any local law you want, because I already took an oath to the Constitution, as did everyone in this building, that we support the federal law, then state law, then local."
"You can be more protective in a state or local law than in a federal law, but you can't be less protective," added Signer.
"You can be more protective in a state or local law than in a federal law, but you can't be less protective," added Signer.
We shall now see whether the city government will seek secession from the US to get around this tiny little issue...
Well, it's obviously Bush's fault. If we only had a REAL CONSERVATIVE in the WH, those little municipalities wouldn't be ALLOWED to make up their own rules like that.
I haven't been back to Ithaca since we tried pulling into a gas station and were cut off by a police car sailing into the parking lot with the lights and sirens going. We guessed they probably wouldn't be interested in selling us gas during a holdup and left.
I'll move there if the council will respectfully request the Gub'mint to no longer seek my hard $$ as tax, oh and ask the local police to allow me to drive on the sidewalks
Let us make an add in all the "istans" of the world and tell em to set up shop there to rule those bu++ holes liberals and make it Ithaca-istan... just for fun and poping corn.
Not a problem. Just make sure that ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS in this country are made aware of the resolution by the Ithaca council. When enough ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS arrive in Ithaca, I'm sure that the council will want to restate their resolution.
Since the mere presence in the City of Ithaca of a non-citizen without federal government permission is in itself a criminal activity according to the laws of the United States, under this resolution the police would still be authorized to enforce federal immigration laws within the city. No problem here. The city fathers of Ithaca can rest easy.
...maybe if they'd declare Ithaca a tax-free zone, as well as a law enforcement-free zone...
gee,what a common sense idea:)-i know you'll never get elected to the city council in ithaca buddy-i spent 21 years in INS enforcement and we always had a good working relationship with local and state police,unlike some other federal agencies-i wish the whole aclu had one neck and i had the rope-ha ha
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
