Congratualtions to Houston City Councilman Mark Ellish for his move to undo the city's sanctuary policy and have HPD officer's trained to enforce immigration law.

Since 1992, Houston police officers have been officially forbidden from enforcing immigration law in most cases. Other city departments generally take a "don't ask, don't tell" approach toward immigrants, officials acknowledge.

Now those policies are under attack. Locally, City Councilman Mark Ellis called this week for training HPD officers to enforce immigration laws. And in Washington, D.C., congressional conservatives have proposed legislation to require local police to help patrol for illegal immigrants.

Ellis, a Republican, said city officials should have heeded a 2002 proposal from then-Attorney General John Ashcroft to increase federal and local cooperation on immigration law.

"If we had done what Ashcroft and the Bush administration had asked us to do, we wouldn't have the Minutemen coming to Houston," Ellis said of the Arizona-based organization opposed to illegal immigration that has announced it will begin patrols in Houston in October.

Ellis said he does not advocate using HPD officers for raids or roundups, but critics say they fear that would be the result of such a policy change.

"It's so unjust to stop someone and ask them for their papers because they look Hispanic," said Harris County District 6 Constable Victor Treviño.

Now the only problem with Treviño's comment is that nobody is talking about random stops to check papers. What is being talked about is allowing police to inquire about immigration status and to cooperate with immigration officials who want to check the status of those being held in the city lock-up. Treviño is simply being dishonest when he talks about anything else.

ICE spokeswoman Luisa Deason said her agency would still appreciate closer cooperation from Houston police in searching for illegal immigrants who are also criminals. She noted that HPD will not let immigration officials in the city jail to check the immigration status of those detained.

An investigation last year by the Congressional Research Service cited 31 cities across the country with policies that prevent local authorities from enforcing immigration laws. That includes Houston, Katy and Austin, as well as cities such as Fairbanks, Alaska.

Some conservatives in Congress, including U.S. Rep. John Culberson, R-Houston, support legislation that would cut off federal funding to such "sanctuary cities."

Not only will this extend to law enforcement, but other city departments may undo the unofficial ban on checking immigration status.

But the policy has never been formally approved by the City Council and does not officially govern other departments. Before he became a city councilman, immigration attorney Gordon Quan lobbied for a law that would make Houston a "Safety Zone" for illegal immigrants. The proposal died in 1997 after garnering no council support.

But even without the official policy, city officials outside the Police Department are not encouraged to cooperate with immigration officials, Quan notes. He does not see any point in revisiting the issue.

"I just think it would be very divisive to talk about this immigration policy," he said.

Yeah, Mr. Quan -- it might well divide you from some of your voters, namely the ones who support the enforcement of American immigration laws and those who believe in American sovereignty.

But most frightening of all is this comment by Constable Treviño.

But Treviño said that if citizens and even police started entering Hispanic neighborhoods and asking locals for their documents, it would create a major backlash.

"It'll be worse than the Civil War," he said.

So what you are saying, sir, is that there is a lawless minority among us -- folks who have broken the law to come to this country -- which will engage in acts of violence in the event we begin to enforce the laws of this country. Do you not see that it is therefore incumbent upon law enforcement to root them out, and to get them out of this country for the safety of American citizens and those aliens legally in the country? Do you not see that you are advocating surrender to the immigration criminals, jin the same manner as those who advocate appeasement of the jihadi terrorists? Frankly, sir, if you cannot bring yourself to support the enforcement of the law, you are unfit to hold your job and should resign.

Posted by: Greg at 03:39 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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