March 24 Protest. We were there!
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Home  Reform Debate Blog
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Reform Debate Blog
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Monday, 30 October 2006 |
| By Jared Allen,
| Two months after sending in its request to take part in a federal program that would allow it to essentially act as its own immigration enforcement agency, the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office was given assurance last week that it is on the “fast track” to becoming the latest local law enforcement agency to be accepted into the federal Delegation of Authority program.
An approximate timeline for full implementation was unavailable, but Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall reiterated that his office is in regular contact with federal officials and has repeatedly been told that there have been no holdups.
Hall had originally hoped to have the program – also referred to as 287 (g), for the section of the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1996 that authorizes it – up and running by early next year.
And while Hall and others are exercising patience with numerous layers of federal bureaucracy, two criminal cases that have arisen only recently highlight what Hall and program advocates say is a gaping hole in the nation’s immigration enforcement program – a hole they are eager to plug here in Nashville.
Two weeks ago, Metro Police say Jonathan Narvaez-Pena, 22, or 1211 Bell Road, had 10 to 15 drinks before getting into his car and running multiple red lights at high speeds along Murfreesboro Road.
He eventually crashed into a car containing the Bumvu family, police say. In the accident, 43-year-old Antione Bumvu and his 2-year-old son Eddy were killed. Josephine Bumvu, 40, and the couple’s 6-month-old son, Tony, were seriously injured.
When Narvaez-Pena was booked into the Metro jail, he indicated that his place of birth was outside of the United States. That prompted Davidson County Sheriff’s Office personnel to send an immediate inquiry to the federal government, asking about Narvaez-Pena’s immigration status.
Three days later, the government answered. Narveaz-Pena may be in the country illegally, they said, and a federal immigration hold was placed on the defendant.
In that case, the system worked as it should, officials say.
But a member of the Washington D.C. staff of U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper explained that the federal government is traditionally very quick to answer immigration questions about defendants who have been arrested for the most serious crimes; murder, rape, and vehicular homicide, among some others.
The problems arise, both the official and Hall said, when the crimes are not so serious, including driving under the influence (DUI) or fleeing the scene of an accident.
Such was the situation in the case of Elvio Reyes, 29, of 107 Neill Avenue, who was indicted last week by a grand jury on two counts of aggravated assault, and counts of DUI, leaving the scene of an accident with injuries and driving without a license.
Reyes allegedly committed these crimes a year ago, when police say he crashed his car into a utility pole before fleeing and leaving his pregnant girlfriend behind with serious injuries.
Reyes had been arrested and jailed twice for driving infractions prior to his October 2005 accident. Both times he indicated that he was not born in the United States, and both times jail officials asked the federal government to check on his immigration status. Both times no answer came back before Reyes was released.
“That case is textbook for what we’re trying to do better,” Hall said.
And as he has stressed in the past, Hall said there are other cases similar to Reyes’ which the public is not aware.
“In a week’s time, my estimate is somewhere between four and five people a day are being released that have some contact with immigration authorities,” the Sheriff said.
The next step for Hall and his staff is a full review by the office of Julie Myers, Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE).
Federal officials, though, have confirmed that Nashville’s application is one of 28 currently being considered by Myers’ office.
But Hall said last week that federal officials told him his application was one of seven that is being “fast tracked.”
And the Sheriff is doing further evaluation of his own, including sending his own personnel down to assess the office of the Mecklenburg County (Charlotte) Sheriff, which was the last jurisdiction to be accepted into the 287 (g) program, and the office that Hall has modeled his application around.
The trip was designed “to find out from a technology standpoint what it is that they have and compare it to what we have now,” Hall said.
Upon review, Hall believes his office has most of the needed technology already in place.
“We believe we’re ready today. Meaning that when [DHS] checks us out, we’ll be fine,” said the Sheriff. |
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Friday, 27 October 2006 |
BY ALFONSO CHARDY
Federal authorities are planning to increase fees for immigration documents next year and transfer their services out of a fortress-like building on Biscayne Boulevard to four new facilities in Miami-Dade and Broward counties by 2008, the immigration service chief announced today. Emilio Gonzalez, head of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, told reporters that an as-yet undetermined fee increase will affect all applications for immigration benefits ranging from work permits to green cards to naturalization. The move out of the Biscayne building, Gonzalez said, is part of a new effort to decentralize immigration services and make it easier for immigrants to seek and obtain documents closer to their homes in the community. He said the move in Miami will serve as a pilot program that, if successful, will be implemented in other U.S. cities with large immigrant populations from New York to Los Angeles. |
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Friday, 27 October 2006 |
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BY SUZANNE GAMBOA
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - President Bush wanted an exchange of workers with Mexico to bring order to the border, but wound up signing a law Thursday that approves partitioning 700 miles of the United States from its southern neighbor.
The administration once talked of "orderly migration" - workers entering the United States and returning to Mexico or other countries when their jobs were finished. But political realities have replaced phrases like that with "border security" and plans for fences, surveillance cameras, unmanned aerial vehicles and watch towers.
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Tuesday, 24 October 2006 |
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Brian Mitchell Immigration has never rated so high as a national issue, but you'd never know it from this year's mid-term election. The issue is a hot topic in few races, and voters seem ready to hand power to the party behind more immigration, even as polls show most Americans want less. Two-thirds (68%) of respondents to a September poll said current legal and illegal immigration is too high; 8% said it's too low. Almost half (44%) rate immigration among the top three issues. Just 8% said it's not a big issue. "Immigration has never had this kind of primacy in previous elections," said Kellyanne Conway, president of Polling Co., which did the survey. But the war in Iraq topped the list of concerns for the largest share of voters (26%), followed by jobs and the economy (17%). |
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Tuesday, 24 October 2006 |
Mon Oct 23, 8:29 PM ET To initiate conversation in North County during this year's election, just say two magic words: illegal immigration. Candidates vying for open mayoral and city council seats in this year's election have strong feelings about how their cities are handling controversial issues such as landlords renting homes to illegal immigrants and the hiring of day laborers off city sidewalks. Vista's hot-topic illegal immigration issue has been a major force in shaping this year's election. Candidates are taking a stance on its controversial day laborer ordinance unanimously approved by the City Council in June. It makes it a misdemeanor to hire day laborers off the street without a permit. A mayoral and two city council seats are in question. Mayoral candidates George Mantor, president and chief executive officer of the Associates Financial Group, and Mark Anthony, a service representative with AT&T, are up against incumbent Morris Vance. |
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