Big-City Police Chiefs Urge Overhaul of Immigration Policy
July 2, 2009
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July 1, 2009
Seeking to inject their views into the revived debate over immigration overhaul, several big-city police chiefs urged Congress on Wednesday to draft a new policy that improves public safety by bringing illegal immigrants out of the shadows.
The chiefs -- updating recommendations made in 2006 by the leaders of more than 50 urban police departments -- called for an overhaul that would integrate immigrants into the legal system, possibly with driver's licenses, and separate the local police from immigration enforcement.
"We're in the business of delivering a police service whether the person has had a car accident, been a victim of a crime, or been a witness to a crime," said Chief John Timoney of the Miami Police Department.
He added that immigrants needed to come forward without fearing "that they are going to wind up being reported to federal authorities and deported."
Chief Timoney, Chief Art Acevedo of the Austin Police Department in Texas and former Chief Art Venegas of the Sacramento Police Department said local law enforcement had been undermined by the blurred line between crimes and violations of immigration law, which are civil.
Those who call illegal immigrants "criminals," they said at a news conference here, are misreading the law and hurting their own communities by scaring neighbors who could identify criminals.
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