American University School of Law releases a scholarly publication called The Modern American. A recent article, “Insecure Communities: How Increased Localization of Immigration Enforcement under President Obama through the Secure Communities Program Makes Us Less Safe, and May Violate the Constitution,” (Volume 6, Issue 2) attempts to outline the current national political debate surrounding the localization of immigration enforcement. In the article, written by Rachel Zoghlin, the Secure Communities strategy is introduced as a case study to outline the effects increased localization of immigration enforcement can have on a community. Originating in Virginia, this program has expanded and as of September 2010, was activated in thirty-two states. The author highlights both the strengths and weaknesses of Secure Communities Program in relation to immigrant rights.
The Supremacy Clause (Article VI, clause 2) of the U.S. Constitution has been frequently invoked to give federal government exclusive jurisdiction over immigration matters. In spite of this federal jurisdiction, much has been done to equip local police forces with the tools necessary to facilitate and enforce federal immigration policy. The Secure communities initiative falls under the umbrella of an established program called ACCESS (Agreements of Cooperation in Communities to Enhance Safety and Security) which was created by ICE’s Office of State and Local Coordination in 2007.
In 2002, Attorney General Ashcroft made a significant statement in a memorandum, that local officers have “inherent authority” to make immigration arrests based on violation of civil immigration laws. This non-official language (never has been written into federal regulation) has been a major tool for many local law enforcement agencies who have since been working to justify their roles as immigration enforcers.
Secure Communities is viewed to take localization to a new level. Local police officers who are not trained by federal immigration enforcement officers, are authorized to send the fingerprints of any charged (but not yet convicted) individual to ICE. Although this program, as indicated by its name is intended to keep communities safe from high level criminal offenders, 2009 data shows that of the 111,000 aliens identified and detained, 10% were convicted of the lowest level offenses (see article for description of levels). 90% identified through the program were deemed as not having a threat to their communities. Half of those currently detained have no criminal convictions at all.
Problems of Secure Communities programs include:
- Prominent Racial Profiling
- Chilling Effect on Latino/a Communities
- Lack of Oversight and Accountability
- Potential Infringement of Constitutional Rights and Denial of Due Process
Various Supreme Court rulings have granted immigrants some constitutional rights. However, as laws largely recognize immigration status as a voluntary condition, the potential discrimination in question as a result of programs such as Secure Communities, must be examined further in order to deem it unconstitutional. However, as this article points out, one could argue that the immigration status of many undocumented immigrants is in fact involuntary.
The article concludes with the argument that federal-local collaborations are not the answer- but rather comprehensive immigration reform that considers “why” individuals come to the U.S. illegally. As cited from Migration Policy Institute, “Our immigration laws provide inadequate legal avenues to enter the United States for employment purposes at levels that our economy demands.”
No comments:
Post a Comment