Whats next, internment camps?
Seems Davidson County officials have decided upon yet another knee-jerk response to help them identify and deport "illegal immigrants." The tragedy caused by Gustavo Reyes was an apparent catalyst to this new program.
I'm wondering what Reye's legal status had to do with the fact that he drove around drunk and eventually killed two people? Seems he had been arrested for drunk driving at least 6 times, and had arrests for other violations as well. Why is nobody lamenting the fact that our court system failed us in this instance? Reyes should have been incarcerated long ago. Period. Now, Davidson County officials plan to train 10 of their offficers to enforce FEDERAL immigration law. Sort of. The article states that if an officer suspects that a person might be here illegally, they plan to ask him or her to either: A) produce documentation, or B) name their place of birth and where they went to High School. The article doesn't mention anything about that pesky law enforcement perequisite: probable cause. Or due process for that matter. Also, it clearly says that even after police bring a suspected illegal immigrant in, when they run his/her name through their database (another concern, who will ensure that the database is accurate and updated daily, and who pays for that?) if the person has a "immigration hold" or prior arrests, he/she is held until he/she is removed by ICE. Ok, what happens if they don't have an immigration hold, and no priors? This seems poorly thought out, and I suspect someone got a fat contract to provide police departments with a fancy new terminal and software package, paid for with Homeland Security funds....more as this develops.
I'm wondering what Reye's legal status had to do with the fact that he drove around drunk and eventually killed two people? Seems he had been arrested for drunk driving at least 6 times, and had arrests for other violations as well. Why is nobody lamenting the fact that our court system failed us in this instance? Reyes should have been incarcerated long ago. Period. Now, Davidson County officials plan to train 10 of their offficers to enforce FEDERAL immigration law. Sort of. The article states that if an officer suspects that a person might be here illegally, they plan to ask him or her to either: A) produce documentation, or B) name their place of birth and where they went to High School. The article doesn't mention anything about that pesky law enforcement perequisite: probable cause. Or due process for that matter. Also, it clearly says that even after police bring a suspected illegal immigrant in, when they run his/her name through their database (another concern, who will ensure that the database is accurate and updated daily, and who pays for that?) if the person has a "immigration hold" or prior arrests, he/she is held until he/she is removed by ICE. Ok, what happens if they don't have an immigration hold, and no priors? This seems poorly thought out, and I suspect someone got a fat contract to provide police departments with a fancy new terminal and software package, paid for with Homeland Security funds....more as this develops.
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