Immigration Official: ‘Draconian’ To Suspend Program Over Racial Profiling Investigation

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Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton said Thursday that the agency has no plans to suspend a controversial program that gives police authority to detect undocumented immigrants, even in jurisdictions under investigation for racial profiling. “From our perspective that is a fairly draconian step, and we’re very concerned about the public safety implications of not identifying serious offenders who would otherwise be released to the streets,” Morton told a House of Representatives subcommittee on homeland security. ICE has remained staunchly committed to the Se Communities program, despite opposition from many immigrant-rights groups, lawmakers and law enforcement offices. And even though the agency, partnered with the Department of Justice, is investigating whether local police are engaged in racial profiling, the administration of President Obama plans to move ahead at the same rate to implement the program nationwide. – Huffington Post 03.09.2012

Arpaio Settles into Political Mental Ward – National Review

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Republicans who have chosen to associate with the birthers have done their party and their country a disservice. And as Sheriff Arpaio settles comfortably into that political mental ward, ask the same must be said of those Republicans who choose to associate themselves with him more broadly. Those who cannot distinguish between the birthers’ flim-flam and the critical questions that face our nation in 2012 will not win and do not deserve to. – National Review 03.08.2012

Aldermen Vote To Ask Guv To Ice ICE – New Haven Independent

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Two weeks after the mayor pushed back on a new federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement program to crack down on illegal immigration, view New Haven’s Board of Aldermen has officially joined the resistance. In a unanimous vote Monday night, check the aldermen called upon Gov. Dannel Malloy to refuse to participate in “Se Communities.” That’s the new ICE program under which the FBI shares fingerprint information of new arrestees with the immigration enforcement agency, which can then request the arrested people be held for possible investigation for immigration violations. The Board of Aldermen’s official resolution calls on Gov. Malloy to deny any such requests, unless the person is “identified as a confirmed match in the FBI’s terrorist screening database or convicted of a serious violent criminal offense.” On Feb. 20, Mayor John DeStefano issued a similar plea to Malloy. “This program undermines everything we have tried to build in our community,” – New Haven Independent 03.06.2012

Bi criticizes Se Communities program – Catholic Culture

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Criticizing the Department of Homeland Security’s Se Communities program, Auxiliary Bi Mitchell Rozanski of Baltimore said that an illegal immigrant should “not be detained until he/she has been convicted of a crime that poses a threat to public safety of immigrant communities and families, rather than at the time of arrest.” Bi Rozanski added: The Church acknowledges the right of governments to control and protect its borders however the human dignity and human rights of undocumented migrants should be respected. Programs like Se Communities as well as overly-aggressive laws such as those passed in states like Alabama and Arizona underscore the need for comprehensive and just immigration reform. Enforcement-only immigration policies will not humanely or effectively fix our nation’s broken immigration system. – Catholic Culture 03.02.2012

Santa Cruz day laborer house green-lighted – KSBW

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A house in the Live Oak neighborhood of Santa Cruz got a green light from the county zoning commission Friday to be converted into a center for day laborers.  The one-story house at 2261 Seventh Ave. is slated to become a hiring center and hangout for hundreds of day laborers looking for work. A Friday morning vote by the Santa Cruz County Planning and Zoning Commission approved the day labor house project.  For years, day laborer have congregated outside Home Depot and ProBuild home improvement stores on River Street in Santa Cruz and 41st Street in Capitola, waiting in hopes of getting picked up for a job. Supporters of the center, run by the Community Action Board, said it would help match employers with workers’ skill sets, protect day laborers from getting cheated out of pay, and give laborers a place to go instead of public streets and sidewalks. – KSBW 03.02.2012