Proper limits on an illegal-immigration crackdown

RALEIGH -- As an advocate for sensible and humane immigration laws, the Franciscan Coalition for Justice and Peace of the Catholic Community of St. Francis of Assisi strongly opposes the memorandums of understanding that have been entered into between four North Carolina counties and the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, as well as Wake County's plans to stage its very own assault on undocumented workers (as reported in the Oct. 18 article "Wake County sheriff to crack down on illegal immigration").

We urge other North Carolina law enforcement agencies not to enter into such agreements, because doing so would be at cross-purposes with their important role in maintaining public safety and solving crimes.

Identification of local law enforcement officers with immigration enforcement tasks will disrupt the officers' relationships with law-abiding members of the community. As a result, immigrant populations will be more vulnerable to criminal activity and less likely to report it. In addition to making the officers' jobs more difficult, local law enforcement agencies will also have to divert limited resources to a task better left to federal authorities.

In the pastoral letter "Strangers No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope," the U.S. Catholic bishops recognize the right of sovereign countries to control and protect their borders: "Therefore, we accept the legitimate role of the U.S. ... government in intercepting undocumented migrants who attempt to travel through or cross into (the country). We do not accept, however, some of the policies and tactics that our government has employed to meet this ... responsibility."

As faithful citizens, we urge our law enforcement agencies and officers to enforce the law and to cooperate with ICE in identifying undocumented persons who are dangerous. However, they should not take on the designation and role of federal immigration officers.

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Enforcement actions should be:

* TARGETED: U.S. enforcement resources should be focused to ensure that those who are dangerous are more easily identified and apprehended; enforcement policies should be tailored and not overly broad so that the basic rights of all immigrants are not abridged; ethnic or racial profiling should be avoided.

* PROPORTIONAL: Enforcement of immigration laws should not feature unnecessary penalties or unnecessary force; immigration control officers and border patrol agents should receive intensive training on appropriate enforcement tactics and the appropriate use of force; state and local law enforcement should not be authorized to enforce immigration laws.

* HUMANE: In any enforcement action, the human rights and dignity of the person should be preserved and respected to the greatest extent possible; families should not be divided and should receive special consideration; undocumented immigrants should not be detained for lengthy periods of time or intermingled with violent offenders; asylum-seekers should receive appropriate screening by a qualified adjudicator; and children should be accommodated within a child welfare context.

Those who believe that "get tough" strategies are the answer fail to see the issue comprehensively and to consider the larger ramifications for our community and our nation. What we need is real leadership on immigration policy issues.

(Megan Nerz and Patrick McIlmoyle wrote this article in conjunction with the Franciscan Coalition for Justice and Peace at the Catholic Community of St. Francis of Assisi. Nerz is director of the Coalition and McIlmoyle is the Immigration Advocacy Team leader.)