Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is testifying today before the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the committee's top two members took the opportunity to weigh in on a program that allows state and local officials to enforce federal immigration laws.
The program known as 287(g) has been in the spotlight after a report this month from the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general. Citing haphazard implementation, the report questioned whether the program is meeting its goal of deporting immigrants with serious criminal records.
Napolitano, who’s on President Barack Obama’s short list for the Supreme Court, largely steered clear of controversy in her opening statement, focusing on increased resources for the U.S. Border Patrol. But today’s hearing is intended to help the Judiciary Committee in its oversight on the Homeland Security Department, so she is getting questions on an array of subjects.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said he wants to be sure the program is not used for racial profiling and that it doesn’t divide communities from law enforcement. “Police officers have a tough enough job as it is. If they’re seen in an us-versus-them mentality, then they don’t get the support and the information that they need,” Leahy said in an opening statement.
The committee’s top Republican, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), voiced support for the 287(g) program as a back-up to federal efforts to deter illegal immigration.
“I’ve not advocated that [local officials] should take the primary role in immigration enforcement,” Sessions said, “but I do believe that it indicates a lack of commitment to enforcing our immigration laws when we tell local law enforcement, ‘Even though you’ve apprehended someone who’s in the country illegally, we’re not going to do anything about it.’”
Click here for video of the hearing.
The 287g program is a good one and should be expanded to include local college campus police forces who have the duty to protect students who are vulnerable to radical elements who attend various universities. So many terrorists have been educated in U.S. universities that they are fertile ground for radicalization of some in the student body. The Campus police should be treated with the same deference as local police because they know their territory.
Posted by: peter terminello | April 28, 2010 at 07:13 AM
If they build the original fence as originally designed by Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) Any person trying to creep into America would be caught between the two fences--in the no mans-land--where they would be arrested by the undermanned Border agents. Before they could even scale the--SECOND--fence, they would already be exhausted from scaling the first fence and the flying patrolling drones would pick them up immediately. It's one downright lie that the single line fence even covers half the distance, as its made up of vehicle barriers and ancient rusted barbed wire. Instead the so-called legislators paid millions of dollars for virtual equipment that is malfunctioning and probably received monetary kickbacks for the contracts..Politicians going back years have the deaths of Robert Kruntz, Rancher-US Border Patrol, Sheriff and deputies who have been murdered along the region. Those crummy idiots who we vote for a bunch of corrupt lawmakers are to blame for the carnage in Arizona and have blood on their hands. Kick out Sen. Reid as he tried to destroy the only immigration enforcement too--E-VERIFY.Get the facts--not lies and propaganda distributed by Liberals hiding under Democratic skirts. NUMBERSUSA
Posted by: Brittanicus | April 27, 2010 at 04:26 PM