Posted on 12/07/2005 1:20:35 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Houston residents asked a divided City Council Tuesday to end an official city policy that forbids local police from rounding up undocumented immigrants for being in the country illegally.
Slightly more than a dozen people appeared before the council in support of Councilman Mark Ellis' proposal to overturn the policy, which prevents officers from asking about someone's citizenship status or detaining someone for being in the country illegally.
Houston is not officially a so-called "sanctuary city," since the policy is not codified in a city ordinance. Ellis' proposal would rescind the general order that governs the policy and replace it with a city ordinance that would require officers to enforce federal immigration laws.
"Houston has never passed a resolution at City Hall designating the city as a sanctuary city," Ellis acknowledged. "But (the general order) creates the appearance of a sanctuary city."
Resident Eric Story said he was concerned about the message the policy sends to people who are contemplating coming to the United States illegally.
"What it tells them is that as long as they make the trip to Houston, they will receive protection from the mayor and the City Council," he said.
Several council members spoke up in support of Ellis' proposal, but others, including Mayor Bill White, were concerned it could be used to discriminate against people who were immigrants, legal or not, and that it would put an added burden on the city's already overtaxed police department.
Some speakers who favored the proposal said the failure of local police to enforce federal immigration laws placed law-abiding citizens at greater risk of crime at the hands of illegal immigrants.
"How many more Houstonians' blood will be spilled at the altar of political correctness?" asked Wanda Sisco-Schultz.
Those who opposed changing the order were outnumbered about 3 to 1 by those favoring it.
Maria Jimenez, a veteran immigrant-rights activist in Houston, told the council the "hands-off" order, which was issued in 1992 by then-Police Chief Sam Nuchia, was necessary because it was a public safety issue.
If people in immigrant communities feared that local police would turn them in for being illegal, she said, they wouldn't call police when they needed them.
"If we rescind this order, we are undermining public safety," Jimenez said.
Councilman Gordon Quan, who before joining the council lobbied for a law that would make Houston officially a sanctuary city, said being in the country illegally is not a criminal offense, but a federal civil offense. Rounding up illegal immigrants is a job for federal immigration officers, he said.
tony.freemantle@chron.com
oh please.
It boggles the mind.
It is pretty amazing sometimes. How long before they demand self-rule? Like Muslims are doing in a bunch of western countries??
..........The 3.5 million undocumented workers from Mexico account for 20 percent of the Hispanic work force in the United States.
Their median weekly earnings, $300, fell well below the U.S. median for most jobs. Income was especially low among women, non-English speakers and migrants without a U.S. government-issued ID, according to the report.
The Pew Hispanic Center released the report as the debate over U.S. border security intensifies. In a speech last week in El Paso, President Bush vowed to clamp down on illegal immigration.
The border patrol argument has divided Bush's party between Republicans who want tighter enforcement of immigration laws and those whose business interests benefit from cheap immigrant labor.
The study queried 4,836 people at Mexican consulates in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Raleigh, N.C., and Fresno, Calif.
Researchers said the great majority were believed to be undocumented.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/3507839.html
g'night!!
The left hopes this will divide the GOP.
It won't. In fact, if the GOP pushes for tighter borders and documented workers, it will help them.
Actually, it is. Thats part of the reason millions of people have had to go through the whole process. Not that we expect libs, especially the media libs, to understand that.
Maybe it should be a sanctuary from federal funds as well.
The voices of the people are being heard.
If they weren't, this wouldn't be boiling on the front burner.
being in the country illegally is not a criminal offense
---Illegal means not legal. Not legal means something is against the law. What has America become? The dumping grounds of other countrys' trash?
Start building the fence.
It should be made a felony for Criminals who overstay their visas and Invaders.
I believe we should give amnesty to these poor CRIMINALS or INVADERS.
This should be a 2 week amnesty to get the heck out of our Country.
The ones who ignore this amnesty should be buried in a tent city jail and fined $10,000 or buried elsewhere.
All aiders and abettors of these CRIMINALS or INVADERS should get 1 year in a tent city jail and a $10,000 fine for each CRIMINAL aided.
Those in government should be the first ones charged.
ping
I hope your thinking an electric fence.
ping
Protect our borders and coastlines from all foreign invaders!
Support our Minutemen Patriots!
Be Ever Vigilant ~ Bump!
This is a very old, specious argument. Illegal aliens don't call the cops anyway. And the violence inflicted on them usually comes from other illegals anyway. Had the illegal been back in Mexico, then there would have been no need for a police call.
But the real reason that local law enforcement should be empowered to arrest illegals is that unchecked illegal Mexican immigration has ruined many cities, especially Los Angeles. What was formerly a nice, clean, all-American place is now a cesspool that looks more like Mexico City. And the tax bill to house illegals, feed them, provide "nutrition" for their babies, educate their youth, and incarcerate those that become little punks in gangs, is out of control. I have no doubt that the same issues afflict Houston.
Illegals need to be stopped. Those that are here need to go.
The analogy is: adopting a single, dirty, hungry kitten is a kind act. Allowing 200 dirty kittens to take over your house ruins the house, makes it unsuitable for living, and angers the neighbors.
Liberals that still support illegals are living in a dreamland somewhere.
That wasn't me, that was a guy in the article.. I said 'oh please'
Dec. 7, 2005, 9:06PM
California city to allow immigration investigation
Police to check the status of criminal suspects
By DAN WHITCOMB
Reuters News Service
LOS ANGELES - A Southern California city became the first in the nation Wednesday to approve a plan allowing police to investigate the immigration status of criminal suspects.
After a bitter debate lasting into the early morning hours, city leaders in Costa Mesa, a suburban community of more than 100,000 people in Orange County, voted 3-2 to join a federal program that trains local police to identify and detain criminal aliens.
No other U.S. city has committed to joining the initiative, although Florida and Alabama allow state police to check the status of suspects in some cases.
"If this goes through, right now Costa Mesa would be the first city involved in this program," City Council member Gary Monahan said.
Hispanic activists have argued that police officers have no right to investigate immigration status and said that the plan would lead to racial profiling and civil rights violations.
"I requested that we go forward with this because I believe the public is asking us to do this and quite honestly the federal government has failed miserably," Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor said.
Monahan said the plan, which hinges on approval of a similar arrangement proposed by the Orange County Sheriff's Department, would apply only to suspects arrested for serious felonies and gang crimes.
"If you are a real bad guy, someone who has committed a sex crime or a robbery, we don't want you here if you're not supposed to be here in the first place," he said.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/3510467.html
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