Proposal seeks banning immigrant raids in D.M. | DesMoinesRegister.com | The Des Moines Register
A proposal to prohibit local law enforcement officials from conducting raids on illegal immigrants in Des Moines was presented to at least one City Council member recently.
Councilwoman Christine Hensley said Sunday that she spoke about six weeks ago with representatives of two immigration-rights groups that presented a plan that would block local city departments - including the police - from conducting raids on immigrants or inquiring about a person’s immigration status.
Aspects of the proposal, brought up Sunday at an immigration forum, are similar to a national trend of “sanctuary cities.”
“They’re looking at ordinances that have been passed in other parts of the country that would address that ,” Hensley said. “It’s really important to emphasize it’s in the very, very beginning stages of discussion.”
There was a time in this country when aiding and abetting criminals made one an accomplice, and subject to similar punishments as the criminal. Evidently, this is no longer.
Hensley said the impetus for the ordinance is illegal immigrants who fear raids and do not come to work, incurring costs on their employers.
“What I suggested to them is there has to be a lot of discussion about it and whether or not there’s really a problem,” she said.
Details on the plan and its chances of becoming an ordinance are unknown.
There should be fear in the hearts of those who break the law, without exception. We add this : despite the vague nature in which this is presented, if Hensley were not giving the idea serious consideration this would not be a “news” item.
Alex Orozco, executive director of the Iowa-based Network Against Human Trafficking who is one of the people who met with Hensley, said Sunday he is trying to set up a meeting with Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie before the end of the year.
Orozco would not name the other immigration-rights group involved in the proposal.
Orozco declined to elaborate on specifics of the proposal except to say that “the ordinance would make it harder to conduct raids” and “all the city departments would be involved.”
Hensley said she didn’t have more details about the plan.
If what Orzoco is doing is right, true and proper then why are his actions those of one ashamed? Why hide the involvement of other groups if he believes what he is doing is the right thing to do? Why hide the “specifics” if there is nothing to hide?
Orozco said media coverage of the plan while it is still in the preliminary stages would hurt its chances of passage. “We don’t want anybody with hard feelings about this issue to get mad when we haven’t even finalized it,” he said.
Orozco had made a reference to the proposal earlier Sunday at an immigration forum at Plymouth Congregational Church in Des Moines.
Even without all the details, some aspects of the proposal appear to mimic a nationwide trend: so-called “sanctuary cities” that direct local police not to look for violations of immigration law.
The term “sanctuary city” has come under scrutiny, said Tim Counts, a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, adding that there is no legal definition.
Counts said that as far as he knew, any city ordinance would not interfere with federal agents conducting raids.
Of course media attention is going to kill the effort, as the vast majority of Iowans and Americans are staunchly against illegal immigration. Primarily, we are against the illegal part. Rarely have we encountered any Iowan, or American across the fruited plain as we travel, which is utterly against immigration. To a man or woman, Americans are against ILLEGAL immigration.
It is foolish to have a border where we do not know exactly who is entering this country. We advocate a DNA database of those entering this country, and mandatory DNA sampling of those arrested for being in this country illegally so they may not re-enter under a different, assumed name. We would back up the DNA profile with harsh punishments for re-entering the country illegally - such as permanent denial of US citizenship, and a mandatory decade of imprisonment at hard labor.
This is how the USA used to deal with the criminal element in our society, and we see precious little evidence why it cannot be so once again.
**This was a production of The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration (CAII). If you would like to participate, please go to the above link to learn more. Afterwards, email brianbonner90-at-gmail-dot-com and let us know at what level you would like to participate.
Technorati Tags: illegal immigration, illegal aliens, border security
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