Posted on 06/01/2004 12:29:16 PM PDT by wmichgrad
Enforcing immigration law a duty under bill
http://www.freep.com/news/metro/clear1_20040601.htm
Police wouldn't get any more power than they already have. They would get incentives to enforce existing immigration laws which they already have the power to enforce but prefer not to.
I think that the issue here is not that the police need to be granted the power to enforce immigration law; they already have that, or the power to turn over violators to the INS. The issue is more that municipal police are often discouraged or actively commanded not to do so. Sometimes this is because their commanders want them to concentrate on violent crimes. Sometime the politicians don't want immigration laws enforced (especially in the big cities) for political reasons; they are afraid of losing the Hispanic vote, or the support of the businesses that depend on illegal alien labor.
The police from the city of Brawley have to be the best enforcers of immigration law in California. In the seven years I have been working for the Border Patrol they have always been available to render assistance.
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