LITTLE TO FEAR FOR LAW ABIDERS
The Chattanooga Police Department has better things to do than round up illegal immigrants, but that shouldn’t keep those who are here from understanding one day there may be a price for breaking the law.
Police Chief Fred Fletcher told a crowd of 300 at East Side Elementary School on Thursday that he plans no changes in how his department handles the issue in routine policing.
“We have never asked the immigration status of anybody we have ever encountered,” he said. “And we have no plans to change that practice.”
After the meeting, though, he said his department must follow the law when it deals with other authorities. If United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents issue a detainer to deport someone, the department will honor the demand. If a judge issues a warrant for an individual, the department will honor that, too.
President Donald Trump was elected last November partly on the issue of enforcing immigration laws and deporting people who are in the country illegally. Since making the pronouncements on the campaign trail, he has altered his rhetoric, saying his administration first would attempt to deport immigrants who had committed serious crimes other than coming into the country illegally.
He also said finishing the wall along the country’s Southern border would be a priority to stem the tide of those streaming across with border with little impunity. And he recently has made noises about an immigration policy involving illegal immigrants already here.
However, Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelley last month issued two memos on how two executive orders on immigration enforcement signed by Trump in January would be handled.
The new rules would allow federal agents to deport illegal immigrants who were convicted of any crime (not serious ones as under the Obama administration), ones who are charged with a crime and ones who have committed an act for which they could be charged. Supporters of illegal immigrants worry that could include illegal entry to the U.S. itself.
The memos also say federal agents can prioritize those who have “abused any program related to receipt of public benefits” and those an immigration officer deems to be a risk to public safety or national security.
Kelly’s orders also call for hiring 10,000 more ICE agents and 5,000 more border patrol officers.
Nevertheless, we believe it’s highly likely for the majority of Trump’s term that illegal immigrants who have not been in trouble with the law will be left alone. But they should be alert.
Since those who have no legal status in the country cannot get a Tennessee driver’s license, Fletcher suggested they take the bus, ride a bicycle or get a ride from a licensed driver. If they are caught driving without a license, they will be given a ticket like anyone else. But, he said, they would not be arrested as long as they had another credible form of identification.
The police need to be convinced, he said, offenders would take responsibility for the tickets they receive.
After all, responsibility is responsibility, whether it’s a ticket or being in the country illegally.