ILLEGAL criminal(RAPISTS, MURDERERS...) immigrants abound in U.S.A.
TJ3
About 80,000 illegal criminal aliens, including convicted murderers, rapists, drug dealers and child molesters who served prison time and were released, are loose on the streets of America, hiding from federal immigration authorities.
Despite the creation of a new agency to hunt down criminal aliens and the infusion of millions of dollars to get the job done, many state and local police agencies who make contact with the aliens either never learn of their immigration status or never advise the federal government of their release.
According to figures for 2002 from the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), more than 375,000 known illegal aliens have been ordered deported, but have disappeared pending immigration hearings. Washington-area sniper Lee Boyd Malvo was one such alien.
About 80,000 of those people, called "absconders," already had been convicted and served prison time for felonies, ICE and INS say.
"Keeping our law-enforcement officers in the dark doesn't make America's streets safer for anyone," said Rep. Charlie Norwood, Georgia Republican. "At a time when our officers are faced with arresting and re-arresting the same 80,000 criminal aliens over and over again, we should be giving them greater access to data and more resources."
Making matters more difficult for federal authorities are several municipalities that have passed ordinances prohibiting their employees, including police officers, from enforcing federal immigration laws.
Known as "sanctuary laws," the ordinances are in place in varying degree in major cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and Houston.
Immigration opponents argue that the laws encourage illegal immigration. Some, including the District-based Federation of American Immigration Reform, have charged that sanctuary laws offer shelter for would-be terrorists by allowing illegal immigrants to establish themselves as residents.
The Friends of Immigration Law Enforcement (FILE), also based in the District, has begun to bring lawsuits against those municipalities with sanctuary ordinances and has promised additional legal challenges.
FILE has argued that state and county governments are prohibited from adopting policies that prevent its employees from contacting federal immigration authorities about the legal status of any noncitizen or to report violations of U.S. immigration law by any noncitizen.
"These policies, called 'sanctuary policies,' promise foreign nationals who have broken our laws that the municipality in which they live will help them in their lawbreaking by resisting efforts to report them to the proper authorities," FILE said in a statement.
"Such policies are illegal, naturally, and have been rejected by the courts. Nevertheless, some cities, remarkably, persist in maintaining their illegal sanctuary policies," FILE said. "Unfortunately, the executive branch of the federal government has been for many years utterly derelict in forcing, as is its duty, municipalities to abide by the law."
The National Council of La Raza has defended sanctuary laws, saying that collaboration between federal authorities and state and local municipalities is contrary to U.S. case law and that it results in racial profiling, police misconduct and civil rights violations.
La Raza(In english "The Race") also charges that it undermines community policing efforts and that it undercuts effective law-enforcement and antiterrorism efforts by diverting resources and leading to additional litigation.
Mr. Norwood has introduced the Clear Law Enforcement for Alien Removal Act that would, among other things, give state and local police agencies authority to enforce immigration laws.
The pending bill, with 112 co-sponsors of both parties, also would grant state and local police agencies access to the National Criminal Information Center (NCIC) database for immigration status information.
Last month, several pro-immigration and civil rights groups filed a class-action lawsuit to stop the government from entering immigration information into NCIC, saying the data was being misused in the wake of the September 11 attacks.
Filed in U.S. District Court in New York, the suit said the Justice Department unlawfully entered immigration information into NCIC subjecting immigrants to the risk of unlawful arrest by state and local police.
The suit also questioned the authority of Attorney General John Ashcroft to enlist state and local police in the enforcement of federal immigration laws.
The suit was filed by La Raza, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Latin American Workers Project, New York Immigration Coalition, and Union of Needletrades and Industrial and Textile Employees.
The NCIC database — which includes more than 40 million felons, fugitives and others being sought by federal law enforcement — was expanded after the September 11 attacks to include immigrant criminals who failed to show up for their deportation hearings.
It also includes thousands of immigrants who registered with the government under the "special registration" program, which requires that foreign visitors from designated countries register when they enter the United States. NCIC is used by 80,000 law-enforcement agencies across the country.
By Jerry Seper
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Despite the creation of a new agency to hunt down criminal aliens and the infusion of millions of dollars to get the job done, many state and local police agencies who make contact with the aliens either never learn of their immigration status or never advise the federal government of their release.
According to figures for 2002 from the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), more than 375,000 known illegal aliens have been ordered deported, but have disappeared pending immigration hearings. Washington-area sniper Lee Boyd Malvo was one such alien.
About 80,000 of those people, called "absconders," already had been convicted and served prison time for felonies, ICE and INS say.
"Keeping our law-enforcement officers in the dark doesn't make America's streets safer for anyone," said Rep. Charlie Norwood, Georgia Republican. "At a time when our officers are faced with arresting and re-arresting the same 80,000 criminal aliens over and over again, we should be giving them greater access to data and more resources."
Making matters more difficult for federal authorities are several municipalities that have passed ordinances prohibiting their employees, including police officers, from enforcing federal immigration laws.
Known as "sanctuary laws," the ordinances are in place in varying degree in major cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and Houston.
Immigration opponents argue that the laws encourage illegal immigration. Some, including the District-based Federation of American Immigration Reform, have charged that sanctuary laws offer shelter for would-be terrorists by allowing illegal immigrants to establish themselves as residents.
The Friends of Immigration Law Enforcement (FILE), also based in the District, has begun to bring lawsuits against those municipalities with sanctuary ordinances and has promised additional legal challenges.
FILE has argued that state and county governments are prohibited from adopting policies that prevent its employees from contacting federal immigration authorities about the legal status of any noncitizen or to report violations of U.S. immigration law by any noncitizen.
"These policies, called 'sanctuary policies,' promise foreign nationals who have broken our laws that the municipality in which they live will help them in their lawbreaking by resisting efforts to report them to the proper authorities," FILE said in a statement.
"Such policies are illegal, naturally, and have been rejected by the courts. Nevertheless, some cities, remarkably, persist in maintaining their illegal sanctuary policies," FILE said. "Unfortunately, the executive branch of the federal government has been for many years utterly derelict in forcing, as is its duty, municipalities to abide by the law."
The National Council of La Raza has defended sanctuary laws, saying that collaboration between federal authorities and state and local municipalities is contrary to U.S. case law and that it results in racial profiling, police misconduct and civil rights violations.
La Raza(In english "The Race") also charges that it undermines community policing efforts and that it undercuts effective law-enforcement and antiterrorism efforts by diverting resources and leading to additional litigation.
Mr. Norwood has introduced the Clear Law Enforcement for Alien Removal Act that would, among other things, give state and local police agencies authority to enforce immigration laws.
The pending bill, with 112 co-sponsors of both parties, also would grant state and local police agencies access to the National Criminal Information Center (NCIC) database for immigration status information.
Last month, several pro-immigration and civil rights groups filed a class-action lawsuit to stop the government from entering immigration information into NCIC, saying the data was being misused in the wake of the September 11 attacks.
Filed in U.S. District Court in New York, the suit said the Justice Department unlawfully entered immigration information into NCIC subjecting immigrants to the risk of unlawful arrest by state and local police.
The suit also questioned the authority of Attorney General John Ashcroft to enlist state and local police in the enforcement of federal immigration laws.
The suit was filed by La Raza, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Latin American Workers Project, New York Immigration Coalition, and Union of Needletrades and Industrial and Textile Employees.
The NCIC database — which includes more than 40 million felons, fugitives and others being sought by federal law enforcement — was expanded after the September 11 attacks to include immigrant criminals who failed to show up for their deportation hearings.
It also includes thousands of immigrants who registered with the government under the "special registration" program, which requires that foreign visitors from designated countries register when they enter the United States. NCIC is used by 80,000 law-enforcement agencies across the country.
By Jerry Seper
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
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BUSH AMNESTY TALK DRIVING UP ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
" In the month since President Bush floated his non-amnesty amnesty program, the number of immigrants caught attempting to enter the country illegally at the biggest border crossing checkpoint is up 15 percent," says Joseph Farah of Worldnetdaily. "In other words, George Bush rolled out the red carpet for more illegal immigration. In other words, George Bush sent out engraved invitations for more illegal immigration. In other words, George Bush undermined the immigration laws of this country. In other words, in a time of heightened national security concerns, George Bush has helped to overwhelm our already stretched law-enforcement resources at our borders. In other words, George Bush is promoting law breaking."
RUSH LIMBAUGH: CRIMES AMERICANS WON'T COMMIT
Commenting on a report that tens of thousands of illegal alien criminals are on the loose in the U.S., Rush Limbaugh said, " Why would you have local municipalities passing laws that prohibit their police officers from enforcing federal immigration laws? There is an answer. It’s obvious to me, ladies and gentlemen, that we need these people in this country because they are committing the crimes American criminals will not commit, and these police officers in local communities need work, and so the last thing a city wants is budget cuts in the police force, and since these illegal immigrants are committing crimes that Americans will no longer commit, these cops have jobs. If it weren't for the illegal aliens committing murder, rape, drug deals, and molesting children, there might not be enough American criminals to do the job, providing work for cops. Makes sense to me."