Program 287G helps crack down on crime    

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

By GAYLE KESSELMAN

  THE RECENT execution-style murders of three college students in Newark have shocked and horrified residents of our state. The subsequent arrest of an illegal immigrant who had a history of previous charges for rape and assault has only added to the outrage. New Jerseyans are asking how it is possible that someone with no legal right to be in our country and who has a history of arrests for violent crimes could be allowed to roam free to prey on law-abiding residents.

 
But those are only the most recent in a series of violent crimes linked to illegal immigrants living in New Jersey.

In 2006, two young boys in Stafford were beaten to death and an illegal immigrant who was boarding in their household was charged with the crime.

In April 2007, an illegal immigrant was charged with the murder of the infant son of his girlfriend in Vineland. Around the same time, a young man in Plainfield was murdered shortly after he was seen having an argument with an illegal immigrant worker at a construction site. An arrest warrant was issued but never served. The illegal immigrant worker that the victim had been arguing with disappeared.

The unfortunate fact is that immigration law is the no-man's-land of law enforcement. Misguided policies lead to some cities being designated as "sanctuary cities," where police are prohibited from making inquiries into the immigration status of those they interrogate or arrest. Concerns about ethnic discrimination and fear of lawsuits have in many cases caused local police to turn a blind eye to issues of immigration status.

'Sanctuary cities'

Of course, no one wants to see law-abiding residents of immigrant communities harassed. But these so-called sanctuary city policies, whether in effect formally or informally, are in direct contrast to other areas of law enforcement where federal, state and local police are encouraged to cooperate to ensure the safety of our communities.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement is a division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Its Program 287G was created by an act of Congress in 1996 for the purpose of establishing a partnership between local and federal police in order to better enforce the law. Any local political entity can enroll in the program. Following enrollment, a five-week training program on immigration law, civil rights law and cross-cultural communication is set up. All procedures taught during training conform to strict U.S. Department of Justice guidelines prohibiting racial profiling.

Upon completion, police are certified by ICE, enabling them to interrogate, arrest and even begin deportation procedures against illegal immigrants they encounter in the course of their routine police work.

As part of participating in Program 287G, police are given access to federal databases containing names, photographs and fingerprints of illegal aliens with criminal histories or who have been ordered to be deported. There are more than 600,000 illegal immigrants who have been ordered to be deported, but who have slipped through the cracks and are still at large in the United States.

These are not students or tourists who overstayed their visas. These federal databases contain invaluable information on drug dealers, gang members, human traffickers and other violent felons.

An effective tool

Program 287G is a highly effective tool for law enforcement that enables local and state police to better do their job of protecting our communities. Had Program 287G been in effect prior to the Newark murders, the alleged murderer would have long since been put on a plane back to his home country and the three innocent college students might be alive today.

Just prior to the murders, Governor Corzine announced his plans to form a panel to advise him on ways to deal with immigration in our state. I can only hope that implementation of Program 287G will be front and center in the panel's discussions. Everyone should agree that our communities would be better off without illegal immigrants involved in criminal activity living among us.

Gayle Kesselman is co-chairwoman of New Jersey Citizens for Immigration Control.