By a vote of 3-2 the LA county Board of Supervisors approved a plan to train LA County Jail clerks to screen inmates and turn illegal aliens over to immigration officials. This is the first time a California jail has approved of such a measure.
Those against the bill are the usual suspects: Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the National Immigration Law Center. All known for their open support of no borders and rampant illegal immigration.
The proposal was made after Sheriff Lee Baca made multiple requests to Asa Hutchinson of the Department of Homeland Security to provide more agents and was refused.
Los Angeles Times
"People who come here illegally and commit crimes need to be prosecuted, do their time and then return to their home country," Sheriff Lee Baca said Monday.
Currently, two federal immigration agents stationed at Twin Towers Jail interview as many as 20 convicted foreign-born inmates daily.
About 80% are placed in federal custody for possible deportation or prosecution on federal immigration charges.
But federal officials estimate that about 40,000 of the 170,000 inmates who come through the county jail each year are in the United States illegally.
Under the plan, Immigration and Customs Enforcement would train six custodial assistants employed by the county to interview convicted inmates on their immigration status. The clerks would be supervised by federal immigration agents, who would continue to do interviews.
Jails Chief Chuck Jackson estimated that the additional interviewers could identify as many as 100 illegal immigrants a day.
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"We owe no obligation to someone who has been convicted of a crime and is here illegally," [Supervisors Zev Yaroslavsky] said
It all sounds great to me. I mean who could possibly be against deporting illegal aliens who have proven to be criminals by not only breaking our immigration laws, but then violating other laws in addition? Well I'm sure there are some people who would let illegal aliens stay here even if they raped 15 women. So what were the asinine reasons by the two who voted against the proposal.
"I worry about taking more ownership and responsibility without any benefit," [Supervisors Gloria Molina] said.
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Perhaps, she said, the county might ask "nurses to carry out that work. We don't know when we're going to ask mental health workers to carry out that work."
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Some critics of the sheriff's plan said that it might create a chilling effect on undocumented immigrants who wish to report crimes. One speaker at Tuesday's board meeting said she was an undocumented immigrant who had been a victim of spousal abuse for 11 years.
"If this policy was in place," she said later, "I would have never contacted the police no matter how much abuse there was because I would be afraid that my immigration status would be at issue."
That woman should have immediately been taken into custody and deported. You're in the middle of a meeting of law enforcement, you stand up and admit you're a lawbreaker and nobody does a damn thing! That's what's wrong with this whole issue.
As for supervisor Molina, it is clearly stated that clerks would be doing the work under the supervision of immigration officials and she tries to turn it into some overblown health care issue.
In addition, Molina see's no benefit in them getting rid of illegal alien criminals in their area. Yep, no benefit at all.
So who is Supervisor Gloria Molina and why would she be against deporting illegal alien criminals? I decided to hunt around and find an answer and I did on her web page.
Supervisor Gloria Molina's Webpage
... Molina continues to remain active in community issues through her board membership with numerous civil rights organizations. These include the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial, the Southwest Voter Registration and Education Project (SVREP), and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF).
That's right, the same open borders and illegal alien group above that opposed this action and just about any other actions of enforcing immigration law -- including Proposition 200 in Arizona.
"possible deportation"
That's all you need to know about why things are the way they are -- even when illegal aliens commit crimes, often violent crimes (in addition to the crime of just being here of course), their deportation is far from certain.
I often wonder if there isn't a legal case to be made against law enforcement authorities, those who encounter aliens in their work, or even have them in custody, any yet later put them back on the streets, knowing full well not only that they are here illegally, but also a proven public menace. This came to mind most recently when those people died when that guy left his car on the tracks. While I never saw his status clarified, I believe it did come out that he had already something of a criminal history, which made me wonder if he was such a case: someone who is here illegally, had been in custody, his illegal status was known, yet he was released and went on to do what he did, which he couldn't have done if he'd been deported.
Given all the crazy litigation, it's hard to believe this avenue cannot be pursued.
Posted by: eh on February 11, 2005 04:15 AM
