Politics & Law Enforcement

This story is almost unbelievable. Evidently despite the efforts of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to seek help from local law enforcement, many large U.S. cities are refusing to enforce immigration laws. Now I may be naive, but isn't part of the job of a police officer to enforce the law? I understand that a police department is not going to want to use it's limited manpower primarily to find and prosecute illegal aliens, but I don't think it's something to refuse to do.

Minneapolis mayor R.T Rybak said, "Vulnerable people have always needed to see the police as being there to protect and serve, and that can't happen when the first words out of a cop's mouth are, 'I need to see your papers.' " Okay, Mr. Rybak. Sure, the police are there to serve and protect (but not just "vulnerable" people). I guess I was always under the assumption that those protections paid for by taxpayers were for taxpayers (i.e. citizens, or legal immigrants), not illegal aliens.

Here's a sampling of what some cities have done in response to the request of cooperation from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement:

• The Minneapolis City Council voted in 2003 to prevent police from asking about immigration status or enforcing immigration laws. Last month, Mayor R.T. Rybak asked federal agents to stop wearing vests labeled "police." The agents have not altered their wardrobes.

• Last month, New York City's Health and Hospitals Corp. distributed an open letter promising immigrants that its workers "will not tell anyone" their legal status.

• The Chicago City Council voted in March to bar police and city workers from asking about legal status.

I think it's great that not only do we have judges taking the law into their own hands, but now we have city councils, hospitals, and mayors doing the same. Isn't it fantastic? I'm sure this is exactly how the founding fathers intended for the three branches of the goverment to work.