The Ordinance Committee of the City Council met last night. While I am not a member of that subcommittee I offered remarks as follows:
Those who favor this proposed ordinance are sincere people who are frustrated at the lack of progress with reforming immigration laws in this country. The Congress and several presidents have done a terrible job of making sure the current immigration laws are enforced, and seem paralyzed when it comes to enacting reforms which address the fact there are people in this country who are law-abiding and want to become citizens through a humane, coherent and fair process.
The City Council can do many things to improve Brockton. However, we cannot and should not become involved in immigration laws and regulations. This is much above our level of responsibility and legislative authority under the City Charter. It is best left to the federal government for many reasons. The most important reason is that if communities across America approve some sort of "regulation" about immigration law we will have a fragmented, mish-mash of requirements that no-one will understand. Further, at our local level we do not have the expertise to apply existing federal immigration laws and court rulings, and make informed decisions on complex immigration and enforcement matters.
When the debate first began the argument was advanced that a person in the country illegally was subject to a civil penalty. That is only partially true. Title 8 U.S.C. 1325 makes it a federal crime punishable by 6 months imprisonment or a fine if the person fails to enter the country through the normal process and complete required documents. If, emphasis if, the person entered properly and overstays an approved visit then a civil penalty is applied. Through research, it became apparent that if you circumvented immigration requirements that, alone, was a federal criminal offense. Should we prevent the Brockton Police from sharing information or cooperating with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) if a request is made to investigate or detain someone who is alleged to have commtted a violation of immigration law? I think the answer should be "no". And what if ICE called to ask that we detain someone suspected of a serious crime, possibly terror related, in another local community? Should we let that person go because no warrant was issued yet even when the person entered the country without complying with immigration requirements? Again, I say no.
The Brockton Police have always had a very positive relationship with state and federal agencies, both enforcement agencies and regulatory agencies. I don't want to compromise that relationship. We may need the state police, ICE the FBI, or ATF to solve a serious crime in the city. Why risk ruining the cooperative spirit that exists between all parties?
The tough part of public service is that you can't please everyone. Some will disagree with my position, some will support it.
I spent almost all of my adult life seeking to fairly and impartially enforce laws and regulations, to treat everyone equally. I can't vote to say "it's okay you didn't comply with federal immigration law" and we will sanction that. I can't make an exception for a special group of people. That erodes everyone's respect for the law.
In conclusion, we should welcome all people who follow laws and regulations and who want to make a positive contribution to the city. That is the character of our country.