Editorial: We need secure borders but latest bill aims at securing partisan advantage
Monday, June 17, 2019 -- The General Assembly wants to force sheriffs to participate in the controversial and voluntary 287 (g) program and detain suspected illegal immigrants. We suggest the legislature let the duly elected sheriffs make their own decisions about protecting public safety in their communities. Some believe that the program drives the immigrant community underground and isolates them -- resulting in an increase in criminal activity.
Posted — UpdatedWe support secure borders. Our immigration laws should be obeyed. Foreigners who enter the United States and stay should do it legally.
For years Congress has refused to deal with immigration reform, with legislators in both parties preferring to play politics rather than make tough choices and craft a solution.
The General Assembly wants to force sheriffs to participate in the voluntary program.
They claim it is about public safety and protection from serious and violent criminals.
We agree that convicted serious criminals should be deported.
But we do suggest that the legislature let the duly elected sheriffs make their own decisions about protecting public safety in their communities.
They were elected and took oaths to do just that. Some believe that the 287(g) program drives the immigrant community underground and isolates them. They are properly concerned such a crackdown could result in an increase in criminal activity because of the ICE program.
The bill, like too many others, is more about election politics than obeying the law and keeping communities safe.
"We haven't budged. We're not going to move," Wake County Sheriff Gerald Baker said last week, six months after ending the county's participation in the 287(g) program. “We're here trying to make sure that our communities and everyone feels comfortable talking and calling us."
That’s his job. Legislators don’t need to tell him, or other county sheriffs, how to do it.
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