Apr 06 2010
Activists on DHS’s 287g Program: “End It, Don’t Mend It”
On Friday, the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security released an extensive internal report on its 287 (g) immigration agreements. The agreement facilitates the deportation of undocumented immigrants who have committed serious crimes and grants federal immigration authority to state and local police enforcement officials. It gained national notoriety and spurred much controversy in Arizona when Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio began utilizing it to conduct immigration sweeps and roundups. Friday’s comprehensive review of all the 287 (g) agreements DHS has in place found that the federal-local partnerships lacked oversight and were inconsistent in their applications from agency to agency. In contrast with the policy’s officially stated aims, local police were found to have used their authorities in targeting undocumented immigrants arrested only for minor offenses. Inadequate safeguards on civil rights were also highlighted. Despite the internal report’s findings, Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE has said that it has been aware of such problems and has already taken measures to address them. Immigrant rights activists, on the other hand, have responded to the report by calling on the Obama administration to end, not mend the agreements.
GUEST: Chris Newman, Legal Director of National Day Laborer Organizing Network
Find out more at www.ndlon.org.
2 Responses to “Activists on DHS’s 287g Program: “End It, Don’t Mend It””
Once Obama got elected he forgot about all the abuses commiteed by Arpaio and his fellow KKK members.
Do not end it! Why in the world should we not deport those here that perform chrimes while here illegally in the first place. That is a hell of a way to say thank you for allowing us to illegally stay in your country while allowing us to compound the illegality by commiting crimes while here. This is the USA which stand for the United States of America and not the United Stastes of Ass-holes.