Opponents of Secure Communities Come Out in Full Force
By: Tom Duggan, Valley Patriot Publisher – April, 2011
A forum was held last month at Lawrence High School by the Deval Patrick administration. Governor Patrick wanted to get feedback from the public on a federal program that would allow police to send fingerprints to ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) when criminals are arrested.
The purpose of the program is to start the process of deporting illegal aliens who commit serious or crimes. It’s called “Safe Communities” and it would drastically reduce the number of crime victims in Massachusetts.
But you would never know that listening to the people speaking against the program during this forum.
Opponents of the bill included the American Civil Liberties Union, The Socialist Worker’s Party, The Brazilian Alliance, and whole host of organizations which advocate open borders and legalizing everyone who comes here, no questions asked.
They parroted the same tired rhetoric about the evils of capitalism and corporations. They preyed on the fears of Latinos by over emphasizing “racial profiling” as if this program was going to have cops dragging people from their homes just for being Latinos.
One woman who spoke against “safe communities” likened it to Adolf Hitler’s extermination of millions of Jews during the Nazi Holocaust.
(And they say the Tea Party uses fear and intimidation.)
I do concede that there were legitimate concerns expressed by some who oppose the “safe communities” program. The issue of inaccurate government data was sorely under emphasized, and it’s true that racial profiling is a concern to many immigrants. Let’s face it, not all cops are good and sometimes innocent people can be targeted during the implementation of a program like this.
But, for the most part this was a dog and pony show.
The fact is, “safe communities” is race neutral. Criminals of every race will have their fingerprints sent to the federal government and cross referenced with a database to check their legal status.
Certainly American citizens (born and naturalized) should not have to tolerate citizens of other governments coming here illegally and committing crimes on our streets. But that is exactly what those who oppose this program are advocating.
By stopping the “safe communities” program they are allowing the status quo to continue. A status quo where the Immigration Service cannot get cooperation from local and State Police.
That means more tax dollars spent arresting and re-arresting the same criminals over and over again …while they parade through the revolving door of the Massachusetts Criminal Justice System. It means more victims (usually poor and minority victims) whose lives will be overturned or destroyed.
Since most other states have a “safe communities” program, it also means Massachusetts becomes a destination state for criminals who are also here illegally.
And it means more cops will be killed by people who have no right to be here in the first place.
American citizens, and only American Citizens have the right to decide who can enter the country, who can stay and how long they can stay. Those decision should not be made by citizens of other governments, countries hostile to this nation or some world body.
Listening to the arguments at Lawrence High School last month it was clear that many people really didn’t understand what this program is and what it does. But, it was also clear that some people understood it very clearly and opposed it anyway.
The sad part about this sham of a forum is that a real important opportunity was lost. If you removed the union organizers, the socialist and pro-illegal alien organizations, and the local activists who do their bidding for Lawrence Mayor Willie Lantigua; what would be left is area residents with legitimate concerns about database errors falsely identifying someone as an illegal alien, and concerns about criminals who aren’t supposed to be here in the first place.
Without all the political shenanigans this forum could have made a REAL impact on the community one way or the other. It could have been an opportunity to educate the public about how the federal government works and sometimes …doesn’t work.
Now that’s a discussion that would have been worth having.