Inside the spy unit that NYPD says doesn't exist - Yahoo! News

Inside the spy unit that NYPD says doesn't exist - Yahoo! News

After confrontation with ICE official, hundreds walk out of "inSecure Co...

UPDATED: DWN Members Critique @WhiteHouse Announcement on Deportation Policies « Detention Watch Network: Monitoring Immigration Detention, Enforcement & Deportation

UPDATED: DWN Members Critique @WhiteHouse Announcement on Deportation Policies « Detention Watch Network: Monitoring Immigration Detention, Enforcement & Deportation

"The Obama administration recently announced how it will begin implementing the prosecutorial discretion memo (PDF) issued on June 17 by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) director John Morton. Members of Detention Watch Network offered critiques of the announcement.

[List in formation: check back for updates]

• American Civil Liberties Union: DHS Shift on Deportation Policy a First Step toward Reform, but Leaves Many Questions Unanswered
• American Immigration Council: DHS Announces Expansion of Prosecutorial Discretion Guidelines AND How Will DHS’s Prosecutorial Discretion Guidelines Impact Gay and Lesbian Bi-National Couples?
• American Immigration Lawyers Association: AILA Calls DHS Prioritization Plan Strong Step Forward for Immigration Enforcement
• Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles: Sensible, Humane Immigration Enforcement Inches Forward – Refocus on enforcement priorities could benefits hundreds of thousands if changes go into effect AND The Lull in Between Storms
• Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society: A Step in the Right Direction AND HIAS Applauds Obama Administration on New Immigration Enforcement Policy
• Immigration Equality: DHS: “Our understanding of family includes LGBT families”
• National Immigrant Justice Center: Obama Puts Bandage on Broken Immigration System
• National Immigration Law Center: Obama Administration Finally Flexes Its Prosecutorial Discretion Muscle
• New York State Working Group Against Deportation: More Double Jeopardy for Immigrants with Convictions (PDF)

Further critiques and reactions from immigration advocates and bloggers:

• America’s Voice: Reactions to Obama Adminstration’s New Policy on Deporations and Right-Wing Extremists Respond With Typical Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric to Prosecutorial Discretion News
• Asian American Justice Center: DHS Creates Working Group to Review All Pending Deportation Cases (PDF)
• Bill Ong Hing on the Huffington Post: One Hand Clapping for Latest Obama Deportation Reforms
• Bold Faith Type: New Obama Immigration Policy: Huge Step in the Right Direction
• Change.org: Major Progress – Administration to Grant Deportation Relief Amidst Mounting Criticism
• Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform: CCIR Welcomes Announcement of Administration’s New Deportation Priorities
• Colorlines: White House: We Will Halt Some Deportations AND Obama’s Deportation Move Likely Lifts Threat to DREAM Act Youth AND Families Fight for Human Rights Over ‘Crimmigration’
• Define American: A Big, Small Step
• Daniel Altschuler in Dissent Magazine: Cautious Optimism in Response to President’s Immigration Announcement
• Greg Siskind: Deportation Priority Policy FAQ
• Multi-American: Who is a ‘low priority’ under DHS deportation guidelines?
• National Day Laborers Organizing Network: Administration Announcement Falls Short – Ending Secure Communities a Prerequisite for Any Progress on Reform
• Presente: Obama’s (Less-Than) 3% Solution To The Immigration Crisis
• Reform Immigration for America: The Top 10 Things You Need to Know About the DHS Announcement
• Roberto Lovato on the Huffington Post: Obama’s 3 Percent Solution To The Immigration Crisis Will Not Sway Latino Voters
• Subhash Kateel via Organizing Upgrade: Obama’s Immigration Move – Let’s make a toast, but don’t drink yet
• Voto Latino: Changes in Deportation Policy Renew Hopes

"

Public Safety on ICE: How Do You Police a Community That Won’t Talk to You? | Research Library | America's Voice

Public Safety on ICE: How Do You Police a Community That Won’t Talk to You? | Research Library | America's Voice

"The principle behind community policing is straightforward: in order to investigate crimes, lock up criminals, and protect the public, police need the trust and cooperation of everyone in their communities. When immigrants worry that contact with the police could lead to deportation, they are much less likely to report crimes and assist in investigations. This makes the job of police much harder, and the “job” of criminals much easier. The result: an entire community is less safe.

For this reason, scores of cities and police departments have formal policies in place that limit their role in immigration enforcement. To them, a person’s status as a crime victim or witness is more important than their visa status. But increasingly, lawmakers are bringing immigration politics into police departments, encouraging and even requiring state and local police to assist in the deportation of people who have not been convicted of crimes. When local police get involved in immigration enforcement, any person who comes into contact with local police—whether convicted of a crime or not—can have his or her immigration status checked, and be put into deportation proceedings if he or she turns out to be undocumented. This is destroying the relationship between police and the immigrant community, scaring immigrants away from having any contact with the police, and undermining public safety for all.

Although some police-Department of Homeland Security (DHS) collaboration programs are described as targeting foreign-born criminals, their scope is often much broader. For example, the Secure Communities program has recently come under fire from law enforcement, crime victim advocates, Members of Congress, and community leaders because it goes far beyond its stated goal of targeting dangerous criminals. Secure Communities facilitates immigration status checks of thousands of people who have contact with the local police, whether they were arrested for a heinous crime or stopped for a traffic violation. As it’s been expanded rapidly under the Obama Administration, it has brought immigration enforcement into thousands of police departments across the country. Government statistics show that as of June 2011, more than a quarter (28%) of the immigrants who have been deported through Secure Communities have not committed any crime. Fifty-nine percent have either committed no crime or were charged with low-level offenses, such as traffic violations.

Secure Communities and the related DHS program known as 287(g), Arizona’s S.B. 1070 law and similar state bills, and the “inherent authority” doctrine first implemented by the Bush Administration (which asserted that local police have the “inherent authority” to enforce federal civil immigration laws) all undermine the relationship between police and the immigrant community. They undercut the top priority of state and local police: protecting the public from crime and criminals.

This report reviews research by academics and advocates, the perspectives of law enforcement leaders, and stories from around the country that illustrate how the relationship between police and immigrants is harmed by programs like Secure Communities. It also provides ideas for rebuilding that relationship and putting public safety ahead of immigration politics. ..."

New Report Shows DHS Way Off Target, Going After Harmless Individuals » Immigration Impact

New Report Shows DHS Way Off Target, Going After Harmless Individuals » Immigration Impact

Is this new White House policy really just a smokescreen to divert attention from these recommendations or the call to end ICE's relinguishing of its authority to state & local police agencies? Has anyone asked what will qualify as a "crime" in their agenda? Will that continue to include traffic offenses?& how will they reign in their renegade field officers?