Austin considered a 'Sanctuary City'? Apparently not anymore. (Mart: fingerprints, house)

[jobert]

I found this to be very surprising. Not only is Austin ahead of the curve, but is leading it as well:

Travis County leads nation in deporting 'noncriminal' immigrants, groups find

What are the implications of this, and what are your feelings about it?

[RooCeleste]

I am 100% in support of it. If they aren't here legally, they need to go back, regardless of whether or not they have committed another crime.

[verybadgnome]

I was really surprised at this. Seems that our local LEOs have been taking things into their own hands, regardless of what the city council/mayor might think. Funny that there hasn't been anecdotal reports of this before but maybe I am not in the right circles to hear such stories.

Overall it's good to enforce our already lenient laws (e.g. 14th amendment, no national language, no emergency room turn away) but I can't wait to hear the first complaint of "I had an appointment to have my house re-roofed but no one showed up but the (white) lead guy."

[RaleighLass]

A reminder:

While this is a hot topic everywhere, whatever is discussed in the Austin forum must relate to Austin and not be part of the National debate on the issue of immigration - per the terms of service.

For those who would like to discuss either legal or illegal immigration without having to adhere to the Austin requirement, you may go to these forums:

//www.city-data.com/forum/illegal-immigration



//www.city-data.com/forum/legal-immigration/

[HappyTexan]

How are you a noncriminal if you are in jail ?

Nonviolent I would agree with but noncriminal I would not.
They don't just fingerprint and book anybody into jail.

[geoquiz3000]

I don't think Travis County or local law enforcement is necessarily responsible for the number or percentage of deportations. All arrested individuals are fingerprinted at booking; all fingerprints are submitted for review against the FBI (criminal history) and DHS (immigration status) databases; and hits at DHS are referred to Immigration & Customs Enforcement for further enforcement if required. Local law enforcement is not authorized to enforce immigration laws, so ICE handles any deportations. ICE's Secure Communities program is supposed to prioritize and remove only those with the worst criminal histories--it appears that this assessment, decision, and action is made at a federal rather than local level. I'd look at the federal programmatic level first for answers. That's my layman's perspective of how it's supposed to work from here: http://www.ice.gov/doclib/pi/news/factsheets/lea_benefits.pdf (broken link)
Maybe there's more to it and APD and Travis Co have more of an active role in determining who is actually deported under the program, but the article doesn't really say one way or the other.

[hopiex1]

Glad to hear Austin is no sanctuary city. And I'm glad Austinites are being proactive and courageously taking matters into their own hands with this issue because Mike Martinez, et al have their heads stuck up Mexico's a--! I can easily picture Mike Martinez and Co. being booted out of camp at re-election time.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by jobert

I found this to be very surprising. Not only is Austin ahead of the curve, but is leading it as well:

Travis County leads nation in deporting 'noncriminal' immigrants, groups find

What are the implications of this, and what are your feelings about it?

The article is poorly written, but it appears the numbers actually reflect that travis county deports a higher percent of non criminals. So if we deport 10 immigrants and 9 of them are non criminals, 90% of the ones we deport are non criminals - highest in the nation. Yet, we only deported 10 people.

Without absolute numbers it is hard to see the point they are trying to make.

[TexasHorseLady]

By definition, an illegal immigrant has broken some laws. So that hardly makes them "non-criminals". Non-violent, yes, non-criminal, no.

Whatever you may feel on the issue, you should do so with the facts firmly in hand. Someone who has violated a law is a criminal.

Now, if they're deporting legal immigrants, that's something else entirely.

[ImOnFiya]

The impression that the referenced article and the title of the OP's post gives is wrong:

Travis County is not the City of Austin.

Pro-immigration measures approved by the Austin City Council:

1) - In 1997, adding to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services statement of "[To] secure America's promise as a nation of immigrants by providing accurate and useful information to our customers, granting immigration and citizenship benefits, promoting an awareness and understanding of citizenship and ensuring the integrity of our immigration system." with this quote:

[To] be a "Safety Zone" where all persons are treated equally, with respect and dignity, regardless of immigration status.

Source: Travis County 2006-2007 Immigrant Assessment, "Immigrant Policy, Process, & Legal Rights", (http://www.co.travis.tx.us/health_hu...gal_Rights.pdf)

2) - In 2005, the Austin City Council passed what is considered an 'anti-Minute Man' resolution:

The resolution cites concern over untrained civilians taking immigration law into their own hands, activities which MAY encourage discrimination and racial profiling.The resolution directs the City Manager to report any vigilante [another 'code word'] activities to the City Council...

The resolution was an initiative of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and the Coalition for Justice and Dignity in Austin, a diverse coalition of immigrant and advocacy organizations. Fifty-eight allied civic, faith and labor organizations were signatories to this effort.

Source: Texas Civil Rights Review (http://texascivilrightsreview.org/ph...rticle&sid=390)

3) - In 2010, Austin City Council approves a resolution to give a 10 minute break for construction workers every 4 hours. (Most construction workers within the city, due to lowered cost, are thought to be undocumented.)

Austin, TX - Austin City Council members approved a resolution Thursday to give construction workers a 10 minute rest break for every four hours of work.

Workers say they routinely work long hours in temperatures that exceed 100 degrees, which puts them at risk for heat-related illnesses.

According to a press release by the Workers Defense Project, seven construction workers died last summer in Austin. One of those men, Jeffrey Willenborg, died of heat-related causes after working three days in a row on a construction site in extreme temperatures.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, a federal entity, requires that employers provide drinking water, but it doesn't require they provide rest breaks.

Austin is one of the first cities in the country to pass an ordinance like this, according to the Workers Defense Project.

Source: Fox 7 Austin News (Austin City Council Approves Breaks for Contruction Workers (http://www.myfoxaustin.com/dpp/news/local/Austin-City-Council-Approves-Breaks-for-Contruction-Workers-20100729-ktbcw - broken link))
_ _ _ _

Along with the city's day labor center, Austin's resolves to help with the living and working conditions of the undocumented who help keep this city running has remained consistent and resolute.