|
| Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center applauds the Office of Inspector General's comprehensive March 2010 Report | April 9, 2010 |
| Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center applauds the Office of Inspector General's comprehensive March 2010 Report (April 9, 2010) Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center applauds the Office of Inspector General's comprehensive March 2010 Report, "The Performance of 287(g) Agreements." The report identifies more than 30 systemic failures in a program that delegates enforcement of federal immigration law to local law-enforcement agencies for the purpose of removing “criminal aliens” who pose a public safety risk. In light of the OIG's troubling findings, FIAC renews its call for the President to terminate this controversial and counterproductive program. FIAC has for years expressed profound concerns about the 287(g) program in Florida counties, where there have been numerous complaints of racial profiling by local law enforcement agencies. Resources also have been diverted away from real threats to public safety. These abuses not only undermine the stated purpose of 287(g) – removing dangerous, criminal aliens –they also damage the community's relationship with law enforcement and discourage immigrant victims of crime and witnesses from coming forward for fear of immigration consequences. As a result, the program undermines local law enforcement’s ability to fulfill its principal mission of protecting public safety. In practice, the 287(g) program conflicts with the Administration's stated commitment to comprehensive immigration reform by mainly deporting undocumented immigrants and families. The OIG's thorough investigation confirms critical failures that FIAC has identified in the 287(g) program since its inception, among them: • While the 287(g) program is supposed to target the most dangerous, criminal aliens, in reality fewer than 10% of those apprehended fall in ICE's top priority category; ICE measures the “success” of the program by counting only how many individuals are apprehended and removed, rather than whether they are dangerous, criminal aliens; • ICE fails to ensure that civil rights and civil liberties are adequately protected: The agency granted 287(g) authority to many law-enforcement agencies with a history of racial profiling complaints; did not take into account lawsuits over racial profiling and other civil rights violations arising out of 287(g) activities when deciding whether to renew, modify or cancel agreements; failed to ensure that local law-enforcement officers with 287(g) authority have adequate training on civil rights and civil liberties; and failed to collect data necessary to assessing whether and to what extent local agencies engage in pre-textual arrests and racial profiling; and • There is a lack of transparency and opportunity for the community to weigh in on the impact of the 287(g) program: ICE did not make basic information about the program publicly available; in some instances ICE disseminated inaccurate information about the nature of 287(g) activities. Rather than ameliorate the problem, the new 287(g) agreements abolish the “steering committees” which should have provided oversight by the community and stakeholders. More troubling still, the OIG found that ICE has failed to adequately address more than half of the OIG’s 33 specific recommendations on how to rectify these problems. Given ICE's systemic failures in the implementation of the 287(g) program, the harm to communities in Florida and nationally caused by these failings, and the agency's apparent recalcitrance in the face of constructive recommendations, it is plain that the time has come to terminate the program. --------------------------------------------- Currently, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) has a statewide 287(g) Memorandum of Agreement, as do the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, Bay County Sheriff’s Office, and Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. | |