Politico
By Seung Min Kim
February 11, 2016
Bernie
Sanders is upping pressure on the Obama administration over one of its
immigration enforcement initiatives, taking new aim at a controversial
program just days
before the Democratic presidential contest in Nevada.
In
a letter with Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Sanders criticizes the
Priority Enforcement Program, which helps federal immigration
authorities to work with local law
enforcement officials to identify immigrants who should be deported
from the United States.
The
revamped enforcement initiative is a core part of President Barack
Obama’s executive actions on immigration unveiled in November 2014,
although it has gotten considerably
less attention than the actions that grant work permits to potentially
millions of immigrants here illegally.
But
the Priority Enforcement Program — meant to replace the controversial
Secure Communities initiative — has attracted its share of criticism
from liberals and immigration
advocates who argue that it wrongly entangles local policing strategies
with immigration enforcement.
“We
all share the goals of supporting local law enforcement’s mission to
promote community safety,” Sanders and Grijalva wrote in the letter to
Homeland Security Secretary
Jeh Johnson, provided to POLITICO in advance of its release. But “we
are concerned that the [Secure Communities’] failed policies continue
unabated through PEP.”
In
his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, Sanders has taken
an aggressively liberal stance on immigration and hired several
high-profile Latino activists
to serve on his campaign. He has vowed to expand Obama’s proposal to
grant work permits that are now tied up in the courts.
And
Sanders’ immigration positions are likely to come into sharper focus as
he campaigns ahead of the Feb. 20 Democratic caucuses in Nevada, where
there is a significant
population of Latino voters.
Secure
Communities, the old enforcement program, had required local jails to
detain certain immigrants so immigration officials had time to pick them
up and deport them,
a practice that had raised significant legal and constitutional
concerns. Now, the Priority Enforcement Program asks local jails to
merely notify immigration officials.
But
many advocates are worried about any level of cooperation between local
law enforcement and the feds that may discourage undocumented
immigrants from interacting with
local police, like to report crimes. And before the administration
ended Secure Communities in November 2014, hundreds of municipalities
nationwide had declined to cooperate with federal officials — citing the
constitutional concerns.
In
cities and localities that had limited their cooperation with
immigration authorities, federal officials “merely made minor stylistic
changes to detainer requests,”
Sanders and Grijalva wrote. “In remaining jurisdictions, it is our
understanding that DHS continues the failed SCOMM program, albeit with a
new name.”
Grijalva
is one of two Democrats on Capitol Hill who has endorsed Sanders over
Hillary Clinton. The other is Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), who along
with Grijalva is co-chair
of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
“We
are all safer when local law enforcement agencies have the trust and
ability to work with immigrant communities,” Sanders said. “Victims of
crime and domestic violence
should not be afraid of being deported for calling the police. Giving a
very problematic program a new name is not enough. We need new policies
to ensure that immigrant communities are treated fairly.”
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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