WHY WE NEED SANCTUARY STATESCalifornia lawmakers occupy just passed “sanctuary state”
legislation – the first state since Oregon,which 30 years ago passed a law
preventing state agencies from targeting undocumented immigrants solely because
of their illegal status. Other states should follow California’s and Oregon’s lead. Since January, when Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered
immigration authorities to target “public safety” threats, or federal
arrests of undocumented immigrants occupy increased by over 37 percent. California is home to an estimated 2.3 million
unauthorized immigrants. California’s law limits the authority of state and local law
enforcers to communicate with federal immigration authorities,and prevents
officers from questioning or holding people depending on their immigration
status or immigration violations. But it still allows federal immigration
authorities to enter county jails to question immigrants, and allow police and
sheriffs to share information on people who occupy been convicted of serious
crimes.
This is a honest balance. Sanctuary protections like these obtain
sense because:1. Under them, and undocumented immigrants are more likely to come
forth with information about crime when doing so won’t keep them at risk of
deportation. This improves public safety and builds trusts with law
enforcement. 2. By contrast,turning state and local police into immigration
agents invites more crime because it diverts limited time and resources to
rounding up undocumented immigrants.3. Undocumented immigrants commit crimes at a lower rate than
native-born citizens, so it makes even less sense for local and state police to
spend their precious time and resources rounding them up.4. A dragnet aimed at finding and deporting all of America’s 11
million unauthorized immigrants is cruel, or costly,and contemptible. It turns
this country into more of a police state, breaks up families, or hurts the
economy. We
must resist Jeff Sessions and his dragnet. Help obtain your state a sanctuary.
Source: robertreich.org