|
The Detroit News – Sept. 7, 2007
Immigration issue heats up in Michigan
City wants to forbid police from questioning status
Jonnelle Marte
HAMTRAMCK -- Michigan's most diverse city is wading into the emotional national debate about what role local police should play in enforcing federal immigration laws.
As Congress mulls what to do with those illegally in the country, Hamtramck officials are preparing an ordinance to forbid police and other city officials from asking anyone about their immigration status unless it's relevant to investigations or during arrest bookings.
Supporters say Hamtramck, which is so diverse 26 languages are spoken in its schools, is no stranger to culture clashes and the law would provide a safeguard for immigrants wary about cooperating with police if they fear deportation or harassment.
"We don't want (local public officials) to go beyond their call of duty to carry out responsibilities of federal immigration officials," said Anthony Mosko, of the Detroit faith-based organization Metropolitan Organizing Strategy Enabling Strength. "There's no way to know that just by looking at somebody if they are documented or undocumented."
Such logic outrages foes who say police are sworn to enforce all laws. The proposal, which council members could consider next month, is modeled after an ordinance Detroit adopted in May and is similar to ones in Los Angeles and Chicago. But it goes against a national trend of municipalities teaming with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to allow cops to identify and report undocumented residents.
"If a police officer snatches someone who is an immigrant from the Mideast or some country that we have known terrorists coming from and they have no papers or documentation, (they) should ascertain who this person is and if they are here legally," said Fred Timpner, director of the Michigan Association of Police.
It's an issue that has resonance in Metro Detroit, where the number of foreign-born residents has spiked 60,000 to 387,000 in the past six years, according to federal statistics.
Ahmed Ismail, 17, was born a U.S. citizen and has lived in Hamtramck all his life with his parents who emigrated from Yemen. But still, he said he's been stopped by police and asked to prove his citizenship. "It's not fair," said the senior at Frontier International Academy, a charter school in Hamtramck.
A 42-year-old shop owner from Palestine, who asked not to be named, said he is reluctant to approach Hamtramck police after they gave him no assistance last year when he reported his U.S. passport stolen. "They try to put you down It's like they're dealing with animals," he said. "A citizen, when they come to the police, should feel safe, not like they're hassling the police."
The debate follows occasional incidents in Hamtramck, a 2.2 square-mile city of 23,000 residents that is surrounded by Detroit and is an historic destination for new immigrants.
In 2004, the city was thrust into the national spotlight when the City Council initially refused a mosque's request to broadcast a call-to-prayer before repealing a noise ordinance that forbid it. The city was sued after a 1999 election on allegations officials prevented 40 voters of Arab and Bengali descent from voting.
"Due to the history of that situation happening in Hamtramck, it's good to have such an ordinance on the books," said Dawud Walid, director of the Michigan branch of the Council on American Islamic Relations that supports the measure.
Council members may review the immigration ordinance for months before a vote, said Councilman Robert Zwolak who is sponsoring it. Hamtramck's city attorney is drafting an ordinance based on one approved in Detroit that prohibits profiling, but also forbids inquiring about immigration status unless people are suspects for "criminal offenses" or police are assisting federal immigration officers…..
The move comes, however, as communities throughout the United States are beefing up laws to allow local police to enforce immigration laws.
Authorities in Prince William County in Virginia agreed in July to enter a deal with the Department of Homeland Security to allow police to enforce immigration. More than 60 state and local police agencies around the country have also signed up to have their officers trained. More than 22,000 immigrants have been identified for possible deportation through the program…..
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070907/METRO/709070370
CAIR Bulletin – Sept. 12, 2007
Michigan lawmaker's measure
encourages racial profiling
The Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI) is troubled by a measure that would encourage profiling of anyone in Michigan who looks like an immigrant by local government employees, including local law enforcement officers.
Representative Kim Meltzer's (R-Clinton Township) "Sanctuary Policy Prohibition Act" would prohibit a recent anti-profiling ordinance that the Detroit City Council passed and any future ordinances in other municipalities.
In May of this year, Detroit was the first municipality in Michigan to pass an ordinance prohibiting city employees from inquiring into a person's citizenship status based upon their race or ethnic/religious attire.
"It is unfortunate that instead of cultivating better racial and religious relations, some elected officials seek to cast suspicion on anyone who has darker colored skin or does not wear 'traditional' Western attire," said CAIR-MI Executive Director Dawud Walid. "Such measures invite civil rights violations and harassment of tax-paying American citizens."
CAIR Bulletin – Sept. 4, 2007
CAIR-NV supports Jewish officer's right to skullcap, beard
LAS VEGAS, NV, Sept. 4, 2007 - The Nevada chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NV) today offered its support to a Jewish police officer who is being denied the right to wear a religiously-mandated yarmulke (skullcap) and beard.
The nine-year veteran of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department filed a discrimination lawsuit last week after failing to negotiate a compromise with his superiors.
"Police officers, like any other citizens, should have the right to religious freedom," said CAIR-NV Executive Director Yasser Moten. "We urge Metropolitan Police Department officials to work out a mutually-agreeable compromise on this important issue."
In 2002, CAIR condemned a decision by Illinois' Cook County Sheriff's Department to strip police powers from an Orthodox Jewish deputy after he refused to remove his yarmulke while on duty.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discriminating against individuals because of their religious beliefs or practices. The act requires employers to reasonably accommodate the religious practices of an employee, unless to do so would create an "undue hardship."
CAIR has defended the right of Muslim officers to wear Islamic scarves and beards. The Washington-based group publishes a booklet, "An Employer's Guide to Islamic Religious Practices."
In 1999, a Supreme Court action left intact a lower court ruling supporting the right of Muslim police officers to wear beards. The earlier ruling, issued by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, said the Newark (N.J.) Police Department's no-beard policy was discriminatory because it allowed medical but not religious exemptions. (Fraternal Order of Police v. City of Newark)
|
