Should local law enforcement officers spend their time tracking illegal immigrants, which is a federal responsibility?
This bad idea originated with former Waukesha County DA Paul Bucher during his unsuccessful run for Wisconsin Attorney General.
The scheme was half political grandstanding, half overreaction.
Mercifully, Waukesha County officials have dropped the idea, allowing local law enforcement officers to do their jobs, and the feds' to do theirs.
It's not just that it's a federal responsibility . . . it's that if local police become immigration agents, many in immigrant communities become too fearful to report even violent crime.
ReplyDeleteAnd before anyone starts screaming about illegals being just as bad as violent criminals - being in the US without documentation is NOT a crime. Repeat, NOT a crime. Also, until the late 1800s - when many of our great grandparents came to the country - coming "legally" meant getting off the boat (if you were white, anyway).
We need national, comprehensive, immigration reform, to deal meaningfully with these issues and bring people out of the shadows.