Posted on 04/30/2007 12:06:47 PM PDT by HiJinx
Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported record number of undocumented immigrants in 2006
CHICAGO — The question is taboo for local law enforcement in many cities: Are you a U.S. citizen?
Chicago, Phoenix and other cities have declared themselves sanctuaries for undocumented immigrants, adopting ordinances that prohibit local police from asking residents about their immigration status during routine activities, such as traffic stops.
But as the debate over immigration reform has heightened, so have federal efforts to capture and remove undocumented immigrants — even in sanctuary cities.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement removed a record 187,513 undocumented immigrants from the country in 2006, a 10 percent increase from the previous year, the agency reported.
In fiscal year 2006, ICE recorded about 6,900 deportations for a six-state region that includes Illinois, said Gail Montenegro, a Chicago-based ICE spokeswoman. That figure was up from 6,375 in 2005 and 6,300 in 2004. Montenegro could provide no figures on how many undocumented immigrants have come into federal custody after being stopped by local police.
“Our ultimate goal is deportation, so (those) statistics are what we have available,” she said. “I would say they’ve been steadily increasing.”
But what role local police should play in helping federal authorities arrest an increasing number of undocumented immigrants has become a point of debate.
Some communities have become willing partners with ICE, seeking training that allows them to act on behalf of federal immigration authorities. Others say local police simply don’t have the resources to enforce federal immigration law.
Still others take it a step further and instruct police to turn a blind eye as long as an immigrant isn’t committing a crime.
Cook County, Illinois — with an estimated 300,000 undocumented immigrants — could become the latest sanctuary. The County Board is scheduled to vote Tuesday on a resolution that would direct the sheriff’s department not to help investigate anyone’s citizenship or immigration status unless it involves a crime unrelated to that status. While Chicago has been a sanctuary since 1989, those protections do not extend to the rest of Cook County.
“Hard-working immigrants and their families should feel safe and welcome in Cook County,” said Roberto Maldonado, a commissioner whose district includes a church where an undocumented Mexican woman has been sheltered while defying a federal deportation order.
“We must do what we can to provide the environment necessary to keep our families united,” he said in a written statement. “Immigrants are an asset to our economy, our culture and our future in Cook County.”
Other communities have taken a similar stance. Officials in Cambridge, Mass. — calling for federal immigration reform — declared the city a sanctuary last year, updating a designation it first took in 1985. Houston, Los Angeles and Phoenix also are among cities that have declared immigrant sanctuaries.
But sanctuary cities are coming under increasing fire from opponents who say the measures interfere with federal law enforcement and promote criminal behavior.
Randy Pullen, chairman of the Republican Party in Arizona, has helped organize a movement to repeal Phoenix’s sanctuary measure, which he contends sends a message that it’s OK to break the law and has created an environment that allows gang members and crime to flourish.
“There is a big portion of our crime problem that revolves around illegal immigration,” Pullen said. “I’m not saying the typical immigrant is here to steal or commit crimes — many of them are here to work — but because we create this illicit group of people in our country, we have this illegal activity that revolves around them.”
In Los Angeles, one of the nation’s oldest sanctuary policies, known as “Special Order 40,” is being challenged in court by the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch.
“In my view, these things seem to be contrary to federal law ... It seems fairly obvious,” said Paul Ofranedes, director of litigation for Judicial Watch, which also has sued Chicago for information about the police department’s procedures for dealing with undocumented immigrants.
Regardless of a city’s policy, ICE officials say they’re perfectly willing to act on their own — even checking the inmate rolls at county jails — to look for illegal immigrants. But they say they’re getting cooperation from police, even in sanctuary cities.
Technicians at ICE’s Law Enforcement Support Center responded to more than 661,000 electronic queries from federal, state and local police officers in fiscal year 2006, according to data provided by ICE.
California activist Enrique Morones says immigrants are getting nervous.
An increasing number of callers to his radio show are wondering what their rights are during encounters with police. More and more listeners who live in sanctuary cities in southern California, such as San Diego, are complaining about police harassment, he said.
“There has been some bending of the rules,” Morones said. “Some cities are not following those procedures.”
Chicago attorney Ashley Dwarsky said one of his clients, a Polish national, spent seven months in detention after he was pulled over for using a cell phone while driving on Chicago’s northwest side. Police somehow discovered a 13-year-old deportation order, he said.
“It was an absolutely routine traffic stop,” Dwarsky said. “And they handed him over to (ICE) within 30 minutes. It shows how life can change in the blink of an eye.”
Morones believes sanctuary ordinances will continue to play an important role until meaningful immigration reform is passed by Congress, but said current sanctuary measures should be expanded.
He said immigrants could become reluctant to report crimes out of fear local police are collaborating with federal immigration authorities.
“The real criminals are going to get away because no one is going to come forward and say that guy is a child molester, or that guy is going to beat his wife,” Morones said. “There are always going to be exceptions where you may find a car loaded with 30 or 40 people, but that should be the exception not the rule.”
Get the wall put up and start imprisoning rogue employers, and we may be able to get that down to about 30 years!!
Only another 100 years to go.
You'd be amazed how quick they'd disappear if we quit paying off on foreign transfers of American dollars to Mexico.
Houston is indeed a sanctuary city.
You can tell, just go to the east side or the southeast side. You can’t even tell your in America in some of these areas.
Assimilation? What assimilation?
“Sanctuary Citys?! When did cities get to pick and choose which laws to ignore?”
I think cities that want to choose to ignore Federal Immigration laws should also be choosing to forgo Federal tax dollars. Why should the rest of us pay aid to a city that is choosing to undermine the country?
I swiped it. But it seemed to be for a good cause.
More Americans killed by illegal aliens than Iraq war, study says
When you start digging into the numbers the only ones that can be sourced with the feds are the number of American murdered in 2005: 16692
I have seen federal numbers for illegals held in jail ranging from 19.3% to 27% of the federal prison population.
Here's a sampling of USA cities wanted for murder. What you'll see is that in big USA cities like LA or NYC most of the murderers are Hispanic. Unknown are the % of illegals. In smaller cities the FBI will post the nationalities of the murderers. About 25% of the most wanted are illegals wanted for murder. This number agrees with the percentage of illegals incarcerated in federal prisons. +-25%Pictures of top 10 most wanted in LA. Up until recent stories about crime in LA posted by the LA Times--the pictures included the nationality of the murderers. They were all foreign nationals and mostly Mexican.
Wanted for Murder in New York City.
Chicago wanted for Murder
Philadelphia wanted for murder
San Francisco wanted for Murder
New Orleans wanted for Murder
Pictures of suspects wanted for murder in Washington DC
FBI USA 10 most wanted. (two of 10 are Mexican nationals)
There are currently no exact numbers on the number of Americans killed by illegals. Part of the reason is that the government deliberately obscures the number. I talked on the phone with the head of statistics for the US Bureau of Prisons. He said his office wasn't allowed to publish the number of illegal alien murderers. Rather they were forced to put legal and non legal residents in the same category. I talked to ICE. They put out detailed numbers on illegal child molestors. However, they put out nothing on illegal murderers.
Part of the reason for the silence on the matter is that there is evidence to suggest that most Americans being killed by illegals are black--as is the suggestion in this LA Times Article.
All that said, it could be argued that if you include the number of illegals in state and local prisons the number of illegals in jail shrinks to 6% of the total prison population. Never the less if you multiply 16692 (the number of americans murdered in 2005) * .06 (illegal alien percent of total prison population) * 4 (the number of years the US has been in Iraq). The result is that more americans (4006) have been killed by illegals than have been killed in the Iraq war.
This point needs to be hammered home. Just as the liberals have hammered home the point about americans killed in Iraq.
To look at other USA cities go here http://stlouis.fbi.gov/ and replace stlouis with the city you want.
Amen!
My favorite part is: “There has been some BENDING OF THE RULES”. Oh, really? Let’s start with the first rule that has been broken: enter the country LEGALLY!
We should lobby our local officials to provide every illegal arrested for either a felony or misdemeanor a one-way bus ticket to a sanctuary city.
He told ‘em, “Don’t talk spanish - talk normal.” :)
We get 'em around here, often looking for directions during melon season.
I'm always glad to help by giving them directions.
They come at it from two different directions but both have the same aims. Amexica.
Until, and unless, the American public starts voting politicians out of office that will not deal with the problem, prepare by learning Spanish, preferrably the Mexican version.
Both parties know what's coming: the collapse of the Social Security system, which the weight of the illegal invaders will make hapen sooner rather than later.
The politicians of both parties can then have their media pals point the finger at the illegals as the *cause* of the collapse, in hopes the American people will blame anyone other than the real archetects of the failure.
Don't buy it.
Houston is a rival for TOP of the list.
>Maybe it’s time for the government to take down the bird feeder.<
Or maybe it’s time for us to take down the government that demands we keep buying the food out of our own pockets to feed these birds.
“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement removed a record 187,513 undocumented immigrants from the country in 2006”
Impress me...make it 1,875,130 in 2007....
Oh and those were ILLEGAL ALIENS that were removed...
My Dad lives in Houston. This weekend at a family gathering, he was saying no one wants to come to Houston to visit. You never saw so many empty stares at one table. Duh!
“Chicago attorney Ashley Dwarsky said one of his clients, a Polish national, spent seven months in detention after he was pulled over for using a cell phone while driving on Chicago’s northwest side. Police somehow discovered a 13-year-old deportation order, he said. “It was an absolutely routine traffic stop,” Dwarsky said. “And they handed him over to (ICE) within 30 minutes. It shows how life can change in the blink of an eye.”
He was a fugitive from the law. Hello?
What an inconvenience....
We don neeeed no steenking assimilation!
Libs were emphatic on busing, busing, busing students in the 1960’s and 1970’s.
How bout Patriots being emphatic on using these busses: man em, gas em and point em SOUTH.....filled with UNINVITED GUESTS.
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