Miami Police Chief John Timoney, an Irish immigrant himself, told South Florida immigrant rights advocates Friday night that his officers are under orders not to ask foreign nationals about their immigration status.So much for the law.
The exception, he said during a meeting with activists at Miami City Hall, would be if the immigrant is arrested because of a crime. Then, he said, officers are required to notify the immigration authorities.
But we're not happy about it.
"We don't enforce immigration laws," Timoney said to applause from the approximately 50 activists attending. He said his department will investigate any Miami police officer accused of stopping a person on the street for the sole purpose of demanding immigration papers.
Badges? We don't need no steekin' badges.
The meeting came in response to lingering fears in South Florida immigrant communities about the role of local police in recent operations by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The agency says it periodically requests a local police presence as backup in case an operation turns violent.
Barbara Gonzalez, a Miami spokeswoman for ICE, said: "We defer to the local agency to determine how they will operate. We always want to have a cooperative relationship with our state and local counterparts and often work closely with state and local agencies, in large part because we have a shared public safety mission."
Well the "Chief" disagrees with that "shared" thingy.
Timoney was also asked about efforts by some members of Congress to push legislation that would deny police departments federal funding unless they help enforce immigration law.
Heh.
Timoney said he opposes such legislation. "I'm committed to not doing it," he said. "If we lose funding, we lose funding."
Now that's a public servant in the grand
Timoney agreed with many of the activists at the meeting that fear of police enforcement of immigration law discouraged undocumented immigrants from calling police if they become victims of a crime.
It wuz a lovefest.
While many immigration advocates welcome police pledges not to ask immigrants about status, some want officers to go further.
Not enough! You have to ice ICE agents, too!
Officers, they say, should not call immigration if a federal crime database lists an immigrant stopped in traffic as wanted for evading a deportation order for being in the country illegally. Their reasoning is that illegal presence is a civil, not criminal, violation.
Funny, the law says it's a crime.
Cheryl Little, executive director of Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, one of the sponsors of Friday's meeting, told The Miami Herald earlier that advocates want federal authorities to delete from the database entries listing deportation order absconders.
Just hit Delete. It's the "right" thing to do.
"These people are branded as fugitives, but they have not committed a crime," she said.
Other than breaking the law, she's right.
The issue arose briefly toward the end of the meeting, when one advocate asked why officers call immigration if the database shows the person is wanted by immigration.
Just a guess... Because it's the law?
"If you have an instance like that, send me a letter and I'll get back to you," Timoney replied.
We don't need no steekin' laws. We're the law 'round here!
Immigration officials began adding the names of immigration court evaders to the National Crime Information Center in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
Go figure, huh?