In-state tuition was almost lost - thank goodness this did not happen due to a technical error on the part of what I call the ¨nativists.¨
Texas has never been known for its equanimity - or for being much of a civil society. Things could change however, if the Latino vote gets moving.
As for DREAMERS, if you each encourage at least five people to register to vote, and ask each of them to ask another five to register... something really big could actually happen.
Craddick looks at immigration issues for next session
By Brandi Grissom / Austin Bureau
Article Launched: 11/30/2007 05:44:53 PM MST
AUSTIN -- During the next year, lawmakers will look for ways to encourage local police to become authorized immigration enforcement agents.
House Speaker Tom Craddick today finished publishing a list of issues he wants legislators to study ahead of the 2009 legislative session. Among several border security and immigration issues to be studied is a federal program referred to as 287g.
Under that program, local departments sign an agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that allows officers to receive training and become authorized to enforce federal immigration laws.
The charge from Craddick calls on the House State Affairs Committee to "make recommendations to encourage" local governments to sign the agreements.
During the legislative session this year, lawmakers hotly debated border security and immigration measures, though few were passed.
State Rep. David Swinford, chairman of the State Affairs Committee, lead many of the immigration discussions this year.
The Republican from Dumas said he doesn't plan to promote 287g agreements. Local governments, he said, should decide if they want to take on the immigration issue.
But he said he wants to ensure officers get the appropriate training before trying to enforce federal immigration laws.
Some local police and city leaders, he said, have been enforcing immigration laws without the training or authority to do so.
"We have a lot of cities that are doing really stupid stuff out there," Swinford
said.
Carl Rusnok, ICE spokesman, said local officers do not have authority to enforce federal immigration laws unless they first receive training.
Currently, he said, no Texas agencies have signed 287g agreements with ICE. Nationwide, 34 local agencies have fewer than 600 officers trained to enforce immigration laws, Rusnok said.
El Paso Police Chief Richard Wiles said having local officers enforce immigration laws is a bad idea on many levels.
It would break the trust immigrants, both legal and illegal, have in local police, he said. It would be expensive to have officers get the training. It would raise questions about racial profiling. And, Wiles said, it would take officers away from their primary duty of protecting the community from crime.
"It's a federal responsibility," Wiles said. "It's their job. We don't have the resources to do it, and the taxpayers of El Paso should not have to pay to have their police department doing the federal government's job."
Brandi Grissom can be reached at bgrissom@elpasotimes.com; (512) 479-6606.
http://www.elpasotimes.com//ci_7603398?IADID=Search-www.elpasotimes.com-www.elpasotimes.com
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