[heleny]

Roger Hedgecock was discussing this topic earlier this hour. The city council of National City voted unanimously to tell the police not to call the border patrol when they find suspected illegal aliens, but the police chief (or the police union leader?) has since issued a memo saying that the police will uphold the law as they are sworn to do, basically ignoring the city council.

Not mentioned in this article: the rest of the family had matricula consular cards, according to Roger. Those people weren't deported -- only the two without any ID were deported.

[heleny]

If you go through the original page, there's also a survey:
VOTE: Should Police Report Undocumented Aliens?

So far the results are:
Should police around the country report any undocumented aliens they come across?

Choice                        Votes   Percentate of 173 votes
Yes, always                   132     76%
Yes, if they have broken a law 28     16%
No                             13      8%

[Libertarianize the GOP]

ping

[VU4G10]

"and the two were deported to Mexico"

Hooray!

[kdf1]

The local police should definitely support state and federal law. They should also get funds from the feds for their help. Should there be a law that the local police shouldn't support? Law enforcement is their job, even if I'm the one that has to pay a ticket.

[Ecliptic]

This time the council wants to stop alerting the Border Patrol...next time an hispanic is stopped for speeding and is deported, the council will outlaw stopping speeders..sounds like mob law instead of democracy...

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

Statement: "CA: Immigration Incident Ignites Debate [National City J.C. Penney]"

Response: Maybe "debate," "discussion," expression of different points of view is the problem! On the other hand maybe "debate" etc., is simply an avoidance reaction!

[Zipporah]

I attempted to report suspected illegals here.. the reply from the INS? I have to KNOW they are illegals not just 'suspect' .. I told the guy to read their own website that gives direction on how to report "suspected" illegals. What then did the INS tell me? I should call the police if the 'suspected' illegals are involved in illegal activity! UH I think being an ILLEGAL alien is illegal activity.

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

The mayor said that the city has directed the police department to review its policy and -- in the meantime -- to stop coordinating with the Border Patrol on cases like this.

The mayor is concerned that if he enforces immigration laws he may not be reelected despite being mayor of in a city with a Latino majority, undocumented immigrants may be leery about reporting crime if they think the police will call immigration officials on them.

There. I fixed it.

[gubamyster]

ping

[FITZ]

They were just returning a pair of pants,"

Or "They were just returning a pair of Mexicans". In border towns, it's quite common for people from the other side to be here without any permission, they are simply given a ride back to the border and sent home. Big deal.

[lentulusgracchus]

"Our concern is to target local crime," said Inzunza. "We do not have the resources to target federal crime. We don't have the resource to target state crimes." [Emphasis supplied]

If those immigrants had been Arabs slinging fully-automatic Kalashnikov rifles, and one guy's left shoe had been ticking loudly or trailing an unlit fuse, you can just bet your butt that National City would find the resources to enforce federal law on him!!!