Friday March 3, 2017
Summary –
If Yogi Berra didn’t
say it – he should have: “We won’t know
what will happen…until it happens”.
That is perhaps the best way to sum up this week (and year)
in immigration.
The President’s address to Congress on Tuesday night returned
to some of the harsher language and proposals that have become emblematic of
his tenure, but it followed a bit more accommodating tone in which the
President seemed to consider openness to new immigration reforms and reasonable
security proposals. The challenge has
been, is – and likely will continue to be – which of the mixed signals will
become reality.
That is why it is prudent to wait to see what actually happens
- rather than rely upon interviews, speeches, anxieties and fears, before
responding .
Interior
Security Memo
We briefly touched upon the Interior Security Memo last
week, but as certain provisions were again raised during the President’s
address on Tuesday, here is some additional analysis about some of the
provisions addressed in the Feb. 17, 2017 Memorandum titled “Enforcement of the
Immigration Laws to Serve the National Interest:
1.
Removable priorities – The Memo identifies
certain persons as ‘priorities’ for removal from the U.S. These include, predictably, persons who are
inadmissible on criminal or national security grounds. Since these have always been the priorities
of previous administrations, this is not necessarily something new.
What is distinct,
however, is the inclusion of any person who has been charged with a criminal
offense – that has not yet been resolved (i.e., that might result in an acquittal);
or that has committed an act that ‘constitutes’ a criminal offense (i.e., but
has not been charged with having committed a crime) or any person who has ‘abused’
any program related to receipt of public benefits.
The U.S.
government is rightly tasked with insuring the safety and security of its citizens,
and it is the purview of the President of the United States to prioritize the allocation of resources
to their most effective and efficient use to insure our security. However, with such ambiguously broad
categories that make everything a
priority, resources are spread thin and the lack of narrow focus fails that
intent. The proposed addition of
enforcement personnel in the future does not address this flaw.
2.
VOICE – Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement
Office – This was referenced in the President’s address to Congress on Tuesday.
The proposed ‘VOICE’
office will utilize ‘any and all resources that are currently used to advocate
on behalf of illegal aliens’ to fund a liaison between ICE and the families of
persons who were victims of crimes perpetrated by a ‘removable alien’. The office will provide information to the
family regarding the immigration and custody status of the perpetrator. The implication is that victims are not now
able to acquire such information.
A corollary provision
in the February 17, 2017 Memo requires the Director of ICE to report
statistical data regarding the apprehension of ‘aliens’ by ICE. Since there is no mention of a qualifier ‘removable’,
this presumably includes any foreign national – whether here legally or without
legal permission. The information to be
provided includes the country of citizenship, criminal offenses or gang activity,
custody status and – if released – the location of where the individual has
been released. This is expanded to also
include weekly reports of non-federal jurisdictions that release foreign
nationals from custody.
In a democracy such as ours,
statistics and information about criminal activities of persons should be
available and transparent. A word of
caution here is advisable, though and, aside from the costs to run such a
program, thought should be given to consider the value and the motivation
behind this initiative. Without context
and comparison to the general population, such information could easily distort
the image of the foreign individuals who are at home in our country and could be
used to justify unreasonable treatment of our immigrant population.
Next Up: H-1B Visa Reform:
Most people agree that the H-1B visa program needs some repairs.
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