Monday, May 1, 2017

Hay tres mensajes que salen de la administración Trump: Trump afirma que las prioridades son deportar primero a los inmigrantes indocumentados criminales y tratar con la ley después. Propone negar fondos federales a "ciudades santuarios" que no reporten a "inmigrantes ilegales" a ICE (la agencia federal de inmigración). Este último está en suspenso debido a un juez federal que lo llama inconstitucional y que no hay una definición legal de "ciudades santuario". Por último, incluso si un inmigrante ilegal no es un delincuente, todavía están sujetos a deportación, pero no es la prioridad de la Administración buscarlos con su fuerza expandida de deportación ICE. La línea dura de la política de Trump significa que una solución duradera a la cuestión de la inmigración latinoamericana está en ningún lugar a la vista debido a la influencia en el Congreso de ultraconservadores y el apoyo continuo de Trump por su base política.

Factcheck.org, el ganador del Premio Pulitzer no-partidista, un proyecto de verificación de hechos independiente financiado por la Fundación Annenberg, publicó una lista de "whoppers" dijo por Pres. Trump en sus primeros cien días. Uno de ellos era la afirmación de Trump de que "las ciudades santuarias generan crimen". Chequeo de hechos encontró que no había evidencia de que la tasa de criminalidad fuera peor en las ciudades santuarios. La definición propia de Fact Check de "ciudades santuario" es "son aquellas que limitan el grado en que la policía local coopera con las solicitudes de las autoridades federales para detener y entregar a inmigrantes no autorizados".

 Que la política de Trump de dar prioridad a la deportación de criminales tiene apoyo bipartidista. También fue la política de la administración Obama, a quien los defensores de los derechos de los inmigrantes llamaron "importador en jefe" por el aumento del número de deportistas durante su mandato. El problema político ocurre en áreas urbanas con grandes poblaciones inmigrantes, con amigos y parientes que son ciudadanos y votantes. Otros, como los residentes fronterizos y muchos empresarios, ven las ventajas de los inmigrantes como una fuerza de trabajo de bajo costo. También hay votantes que consideran que los trumpistas son racistas, inhumanos y odiosos.

Por otra parte, el General Jeff Sessions recordó a todos que cualquier persona que esté aquí ilegalmente, criminales o no, está sujeta a deportación. El resultado es conducir incluso a aquellos sin antecedentes penales que están aquí ilegalmente de vuelta a las sombras. Los testigos de delitos que son indocumentados ahora tienen miedo de presentarse para denunciar el crimen como son los que son indocumentados. El mayor impacto ha sido en la reducción de la notificación de violencia doméstica, señaló en California en el artículo de noticias de EE.UU. y ha habido un impacto notable específicamente en Denver, también.

La promesa de Trump de construir un hermoso muro no tiene el pleno apoyo del Congreso del Partido Republicano debido al impacto del presupuesto / déficit y la construcción real se trasladará a futuras solicitudes de financiamiento. Sin embargo, su aumento en la financiación y el personal de la ICE ayuda a mantener el apoyo de su base. La única solución real es una reforma migratoria integral que otorgue a los indocumentados un estatus legal mínimo, si no un camino hacia la ciudadanía. Políticamente es una patata caliente y aún condenada por muchos a la derecha como "amnistía" porque consideran a todos los ilegales que violan la ley. Esperamos que poco suceda en este Congreso dominado por el Partido Republicano sobre la reforma de inmigración, especialmente uno con un Caucus de la Libertad ultraconservador que maneja tanto poder e influencia y con la base política de Trump pegado con él y su catering a los duros.

There are three messages coming out of the Trump administration: Trump claims priorities are to  deport  undocumented immigrants criminals first and deal with the law abiders later .  He proposes to deny federal funding to "sanctuary cities" that do not report "illegal immigrants" to ICE (the federal immigration enforcement agency). The latter is on hold due to a federal judge calling it unconstitutional and that there is no  legal definition of "sanctuary cities". Last, even if an illegal immigrant  is not a criminal, they are still subject to deportation, but it is just not the Administration's  priority to search them out with their  expanded ICE deportation force.  The hard line Trump  policy means a lasting solution to the Latin American  immigration issue is nowhere in sight because of the influence in Congress of ultra-conservatives and the continued support of Trump by his political base.

Factcheck.org, the Pulitzer  winning non-partisan, independent fact checking project funded by the Annenberg Foundation , posted a list of "whoppers" told by Pres. Trump in his first one hundred days. One of those was Trump's claim that "sanctuary cities breed crime".  To make his point, even during the campaign,  Trump  pointed to an example of a murder committed by an illegal immigrant,  once deported and back again. Making a selective case a poster child does not mean that the conclusions can be generalized. Fact Check found there was no evidence that the crime rate was worse in sanctuary cities and some studies showed that the criminal element among immigrants was similar to the rate in non immigrant populations. Fact Check's own definition of "sanctuary cities" is " are those that limit the degree to which local police cooperate with requests from federal authorities to detain and turn over unauthorized immigrants."  

 That the Trump policy of giving priority to deporting criminals  has bi-partisan support. It was also the policy of the Obama administration, who immigrant rights advocates dubbed "importer in chief" for the increased numbers deported during his term.  The political problem occurs  in  urban areas with large immigrant populations, with friends and relatives  who are citizens and voters. Others such as  border residents, and many business people  see advantages in immigrants  as a low cost work force . There are also  voters who  consider the Trump folks racists, inhumane, and  hatefully divisive.


On the other hand, Atty General  Jeff Sessions reminded all that anyone who is here illegally, criminals or not, are subject to deportation. The result is to drive even those without criminal records who are here illegally back into the shadows. The recent deportation of a dreamer, a young person who was baby brought to America by an undocumented parent,  adds a great deal of fear among the immigrant population and has resulted in problems for big city law enforcement.  Witnesses to crime who are undocumented are now fearful to come forward  to report crime as are those who are undocumented.  The greatest impact has been on the reduction of reporting of domestic violence, noted in California in the US news article and there has been a noticeable impact specifically  in Denver, as well.

There is even a wider impact on  US citizens. A friend of mine was involved in a fender bender with a driver who appeared to be Hispanic with a limited command of English.  While she was able to get coverage from her insurer, her insurer told her to reported it to the police.. At the time, she did not consider the damage sufficient to require a police attendance, but she did get the first name and telephone number of the driver she rear-ended. There was no visible damage to the other car.  She was advised to file a police report later, but no one ever responded to her telephone call and she is unable to reach the other driver, making it impossible for her to file the report.  This is just one example of what happens when  those who fear deportation, even if they are not criminals, are driven underground.  You can imagine what happens if in the case of other situations that may or may not involve a crime as either a witness or a victim.


Trump’s promise to build a beautiful wall does not have full support of the GOP Congress because of budget/deficit impact and the actual construction will be carried over to future funding requests. However, his increase in ICE funding and personnel helps keep  the support of his base.The only real solution is comprehensive immigration reform that gives the undocumented at minimum legal status, if not a path to citizenship.  Politically it is a hot potato and  still damned by many on the right as "amnesty" because they consider all illegals  law breakers. Expect little to happen in this GOP dominated Congress on immigration reform, especially one with such an ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus wielding so much power and influence and with Trump's political base sticking with him.

 Those on the right claim the undocumented have no legal rights under the Constitution. Wrong, say others.. Except for voting, getting some government services, or getting some government jobs and gun purchases, they do, especially rights to due process and equal protection.   Civil rights as found in the Constitution's 14th amendment apply to persons, not "citizens" and there have been many court decisions upholding that.

See http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/immigration/255281-yes-illegal-aliens-have-constitutional-rights  for some of the court decisions upholding those rights.

http://www.factcheck.org/2017/02/no-evidence-sanctuary-cities-breed-crime/

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/sanctuary-cities-ruling-when-a-judge-quotes-sean-spicer-it%E2%80%99s-not-a-good-sign-for-the-white-house/ar-BBAo00z?li=BBnbcA1

http://www.newsweek.com/2017/03/24/trump-immigration-border-wall-undocumented-immigrants-texas-567308.html

http://www.people-press.org/2016/08/25/on-immigration-policy-partisan-differences-but-also-some-common-ground/










https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/mar/23/undocumented-immigrants-wary-report-crimes-deportation