Celtic Rogue
4th May 2010, 10:47 PM
WOW I always new that the local govt was nuts... but this proves it... Its fine with them that illegal people should be protected... What Crap these stupid elected officials offer up as sanity!!!!
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dc/2010/05/dc_council_boycott_arizona_don.html
D.C. council: Boycott Arizona, don't share arrest data with feds
The D.C. Council waded into the fight over illegal immigration today, as all 13 members sponsored a bill forbidding the police chief from sharing arrest data with federal immigration officials and also announced their unanimous support for a resolution calling on the city to stop doing business with Arizona.
Responding to Arizona's new immigration law, the resolution requests that the city government and the employee pension fund "divest' from all Arizona state and municipal bonds and ban city workers from traveling to that state on official business.
The resolution, which will be voted on at a later date, does not appear to prevent the city from doing business with Arizona-based companies, as some Hispanic activists had proposed.
""I can't think of a more horrific action than one taken by Arizona," said Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray, a Democratic candidate for mayor. "We are in 2010, not 1810 and we don't need to harken back to the days when racial discrimination was rampant. We need to do everything we can in the District of Columbia because this is the right thing to do."
It's unclear how much business the District does with the state of Arizona. But Council member Michael Brown (I-At large) said similar resolutions will be introduced or have already been introduced in Boston, San Francisco, New York, Philadelphia, Milwaukee and Chicago.
"The last time citizens were required to carry papers was in the slave era in the South," said Brown, referring to provisions in the bill that give police more latitude to stop and detain immigrants they suspect are in the country illegally.
In the District, the council is also setting up a potential showdown with Police Chief Cathy Lanier over whether the city will participate in the Secure Communities Initiative. Under that federal program, local police are supposed to share arrest data with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency. Council members said Lanier had indicated she had planned to comply with the Secure Communities Initiative.
But all 13 members co-introduced bill that would "prohibit the District of Columbia to transmit arrest data to the United States Department of Homeland Security" or ICE. The city, however, would continue to notify federal immigration officials when a suspected illegal immigrant has been convicted of a crime.
Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), a lead sponsor of the bill, said an undocumented immigrant should not be subject to deportation when they may ultimately be cleared of the crime they were picked up for. .
"It will create a firewall between our local police efforts and immigration efforts," said Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1). "This is a very, very clear message we care about human rights in the District of Columbia."
Mendelson's bill still has to work its way through the committee process, but he's Lanier instead decides to voluntarily opt out of the program before a final vote is taken.
"By having every (council member) on board, it sends a clear message," Mendelson said. "And if we have to have a hearing, we will have it. And then if we have to have a vote, we'll have that too."
--Tim Craig
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dc/2010/05/dc_council_boycott_arizona_don.html
D.C. council: Boycott Arizona, don't share arrest data with feds
The D.C. Council waded into the fight over illegal immigration today, as all 13 members sponsored a bill forbidding the police chief from sharing arrest data with federal immigration officials and also announced their unanimous support for a resolution calling on the city to stop doing business with Arizona.
Responding to Arizona's new immigration law, the resolution requests that the city government and the employee pension fund "divest' from all Arizona state and municipal bonds and ban city workers from traveling to that state on official business.
The resolution, which will be voted on at a later date, does not appear to prevent the city from doing business with Arizona-based companies, as some Hispanic activists had proposed.
""I can't think of a more horrific action than one taken by Arizona," said Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray, a Democratic candidate for mayor. "We are in 2010, not 1810 and we don't need to harken back to the days when racial discrimination was rampant. We need to do everything we can in the District of Columbia because this is the right thing to do."
It's unclear how much business the District does with the state of Arizona. But Council member Michael Brown (I-At large) said similar resolutions will be introduced or have already been introduced in Boston, San Francisco, New York, Philadelphia, Milwaukee and Chicago.
"The last time citizens were required to carry papers was in the slave era in the South," said Brown, referring to provisions in the bill that give police more latitude to stop and detain immigrants they suspect are in the country illegally.
In the District, the council is also setting up a potential showdown with Police Chief Cathy Lanier over whether the city will participate in the Secure Communities Initiative. Under that federal program, local police are supposed to share arrest data with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency. Council members said Lanier had indicated she had planned to comply with the Secure Communities Initiative.
But all 13 members co-introduced bill that would "prohibit the District of Columbia to transmit arrest data to the United States Department of Homeland Security" or ICE. The city, however, would continue to notify federal immigration officials when a suspected illegal immigrant has been convicted of a crime.
Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), a lead sponsor of the bill, said an undocumented immigrant should not be subject to deportation when they may ultimately be cleared of the crime they were picked up for. .
"It will create a firewall between our local police efforts and immigration efforts," said Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1). "This is a very, very clear message we care about human rights in the District of Columbia."
Mendelson's bill still has to work its way through the committee process, but he's Lanier instead decides to voluntarily opt out of the program before a final vote is taken.
"By having every (council member) on board, it sends a clear message," Mendelson said. "And if we have to have a hearing, we will have it. And then if we have to have a vote, we'll have that too."
--Tim Craig