CÁRDENAS, POLIS, CHU FIGHT AGAINST IMMIGRATION ABUSES
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
CÁRDENAS, POLIS, CHU FIGHT AGAINST IMMIGRATION ABUSES
(Washington, DC) – Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-San Fernando Valley) joined fellow Representatives Jared Polis of Colorado and Judy Chu of California, in offering an amendment to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Appropriations bill.
The Polis-Chu-Cárdenas amendment would defund operations conducted under Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. This widely-criticized program allows the Department of Homeland Security to deputize state and local law enforcement officers to perform the functions of federal immigration officials.
The somewhat arbitrary nature of the law, combined with a lack of effective oversight, has encouraged abuses of immigration enforcement. The most notable of these abuses has been the racial profiling conducted by Maricopa (AZ) County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Actions taken by Sheriff Arpaio resulted in an unprecedented civil rights investigation by the Department of Justice and in civil suits being filed.
The Appropriations Committee overfunded the 287(g) program in the FY2014 bill by more than $40 million. The White House has threatened to veto the DHS Appropriations bill if this level of funding remains, because current immigration policies, including Secure Communities, have superseded this local and state deputizing.
The Polis-Chu-Cárdenas amendment would totally defund the program, allocating 10% of the unallocated funding to the Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, with the remaining 90% going toward deficit reduction.
The amendment failed by a final vote of 180-245, but had bipartisan support.
“This amendment tells Americans that we are not going to allow their taxpayer funds to be wasted , paying for local sheriffs to grandstand and become cult heroes of hate,” said Cárdenas. “Programs like the one we would have defunded have helped build a wall of mistrust between victims and government agencies. Getting rid of this obsolete law would begin repairing trust that was lost over the last decade. It’s a great a step forward in fixing our broken immigration system and restoring the