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MY WORD - 11/19/2008
(by Holly Stewart - OpEd Columnist - November 19, 2008)
ICE and the hot button
When asked by an anthropologist what the Indians called America before the white man came, an Indian said simply ‘Ours.’ – Vine Deloria Jr.
With all the triumphant ballyhoo over the presidential election two weeks ago, you might have missed a big news story about illegal immigration in New Jersey that broke just days later. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency announced that they had deported more than 4,000 people from New Jersey in this fiscal year, a figure that represents a 25 percent increase over deportations in the previous 12-month period. Nationwide, the agency reported having deported 349,000 illegal aliens during the same timeframe. That’s a full 20 percent higher than last year.
Perhaps even more significant is this reality: A solid 30 percent of those deported from our state had a prior criminal record. That’s stunning. Seems the feds have figured out ways to root out the rats and send them packing. This is good news for all Americans; we want our streets to be safer and our immigrant population to have working papers.
In 2003, ICE implemented a plan at the federal level called the Fugitive Operations Program. Its goal is to gather information and perform periodic raids to find those who have remained in the United States despite deportation orders being issued against them. In the last week of September, one such sweep garnered 76 such offenders in our state alone. The feds have established four teams of “fugitive absconders” in New Jersey to organize these efforts and carry them out. Looks like the tactic is working.
Not everyone is happy about the way ICE is going about its business, however. Several large-scale sweeps – most held at manufacturing plants in other states – have resulted in the unfortunate detention of both legal aliens and American citizens. Those who cannot produce proper paperwork during these raids have been forced to spend some time behind bars. As a result, American Civil Liberties Union counsel Joanne Lin has teamed up with U.S. Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Edward Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) to sponsor a bill called the Protect Citizens from Unlawful Raids and Detention Act. It was introduced into the Senate on Sept. 25 with the aim of regulating ICE officials’ conduct. The primary objective of this legislation is to create a version of the Miranda Rights for those detained during raids.
So darn it, what do you know? Our lofty American ideals are getting in the way of our ability to get things done again. Like Guantanamo and the torture issue, this subject will leave Americans split fairly evenly down the middle, with some of us saying that the ends justify the means and others holding staunchly to the belief that our principles must remain intact no matter what. There are valid arguments on either side. With some hard work the spirit of compromise may produce a passable bill. However, it is not likely to happen during the lame duck session of Congress. Senator Menendez has vowed to keep this particular piece of legislation from fading away.
Regardless, the headway made by ICE against the rising tide of illegal immigration is but a drop in the bucket. Census estimates declare that New Jersey contains half a million unlawful migrants, while the entire country holds 12 million or more. Good grief, you say, what are they all doing here? Well, logic stands to reason in two ways: (1) These folks are going to go where they can find work and (2) they are going to go where they blend in with the general population. New Jersey’s rich pattern of diversity makes it easy for persons of all backgrounds to find a niche for themselves, whether or not they are legitimate citizens.
And now for the upshot of our failing economy: A report published by the Pew Hispanic Center suggests that there are half a million fewer illegal residents in the United States now than there were a year ago. The reasons for this vary widely but for the most part – according to community leaders - they boil down to the increasing scarcity of work available here. Many are deciding that the potential benefits of sneaking across our borders no longer outweigh the risks. Wow. So Mexico looks a little brighter every day. Arriba!!
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