The Hispanic Bar Association President Ivette Alvarez wrote an op-ed piece to the Trenton Times today that is pretty noteworthy. It is fair, accurate and explains many of the dangers of the new Attorney General's Directive on immigration reform.
The Directive No. 2007-3 provides and directs law-enforcement officers to inquire of all individuals arrested and charged with indictable offenses and driving under the influence (DUI) about their citizenship. The directive further provides that "((i))f the officer has reason to believe that the person may not be lawfully present in the United States, the officer shall notify Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during the arrest booking process."
Ms. Alvarez says: "The HBA-NJ recognizes that comprehensive immigration reform is needed in our current system and is not opposed to reformation of the same. We do not object to immigration laws that, for instance, bar criminals from entering the country or provide for the deportation of a resident or undocumented immigrants convicted of serious crimes. However, there needs to be a balance that enhances international cooperation on immigration issues and ensures that the human rights and dignity of all immigrants and their families are respected and protected."
She credits the Attorney General for taking into consideration the "inherent dangers" in this directive, but says there are still insufficient safeguards to prevent misuse of the directive and racial profiling may occur as a result. Further, she says "we are further concerned that the lack of safeguards will cause immigrant victims and witnesses of crimes and civil wrongs to avoid contact with the police." This is a serious concern.
Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, caused the same concerns for the Hispanic bar and the "implementation of such a program [they opined] would lead to an increase of police stops and interrogation of persons of color who the police believe are undocumented immigrants." Implementation of such a program would lead to a reduction in the reporting of crimes against undocumented immigrants out of what Ms. Alvarez describes as "being separated from their families, being incarcerated and deported." Governor Corzine opposed the measure for similar reasons and said of the measure is a piece meal approach at local levels to a complicated problem which undermines "the critical trust communities must have ((of)) law enforcement..."
The directive gives an arresting officer the authority "not only to inquire about an arrestee's citizenship, but it gives the arresting officer the discretion (without any standards) to formulate a reasonable belief whether an arrestee "may" be in the U.S. unlawfully." Ms. Alvarez goes on to say the process is far too complex and will speed too quickly for an arresting officer to communicate the information to the ICE and may lead to inadequate information gathering and deportations in cases that are not necessary. Read the rest of the op-ed piece here.
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