The problem of gangs - Essay Example

Different s and their government, organizations, agencies, departments and instrumentalities have different takes on the issue as well as programs and insights that increase awareness and ways of undertaking the issue. The problem of gangs in the country continues to increase rapidly according to the Justice Department’s National Youth Gang Center, where it was estimated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation estimates that there are 30,000 various gangs with a total of about 800,000 members by 2008.

This is made up of majority legal and illegal immigrant youth and includes those born in the U.S. by legal and illegal immigrant parents. The Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) data shows that 75% of those arrested are from Mexico and El Salvador from gangs such as 18th Street Gang and Mara Salvatrucha or MS-13 known to have massive illegal immigrant members (Feere & Vaughan, 2008). In an article released by the National Immigration Law Center it clarified that under New York law as decided by the Board of Immigration Appeals, a youthful offender’s adjudication is not equivalent to conviction in relation to the Immigration and Nationality Act.

This was decided on the “Matter of Devison-Charles,” given a permanent resident status in the United States in April 1996 who was a citizen of the Dominican Republic. Back in 1992 he was involved in attempted possession of a controlled substance where he was adjudicated as a youth offender. The ruling affirms that conviction under the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) does not apply to juvenile offenders (Immigrants Rights Update, 2000). The liberal policy of a number of states granted to juvenile offenders in view of their immigration status sometimes become an area of abuse wherein states like Florida through its Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) increased efforts to impose background checks to ensure those that come into the agency are actually within the age limit.

The State Senator was able to get an appropriation for additional funding for such purposes as identifying illegal juvenile immigrants (Lorenzo, 2006). Back in 2009 a conflict brewed over San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors and the City’s Mayor Gavin Newsom over a policy voted upon by the Board that disallows the handing over of juvenile illegal immigrants by law enforcement officials “over to the federal government unless they have been convicted of a felony” (La Ganga, 2009). This contradicts the mayor’s position of stiffer sanctions following the deaths of Anthony Bologna and his two sons by an illegal alien named Edwin Ramos aged 21 when he committed the offense.

The policy affirms the ordinance giving San Francisco the title “sanctuary city” where immigration status is not looked upon with youth offenders. Subsequently vetoed by the mayor, the Board overruled the veto with an 8-3 vote further aggravating by the conflict where the mayor insists he will not abide by it “and that the current policy of turning over juveniles at the time of their arrest would stay in place” (McKinley, 2009). Bibliography Feere, J., & Vaughan, J. (2008, September).

Taking back the streets: ICE and local law enforcement target immigrant gangs. Retrieved November 5, 2011, from Center for Immigration Studies: http://cis.org/ImmigrantGangs Immigrants Rights Update. (2000, October 19). BIA: youthful offender adjudication does not constitute conviction for a crime under the INA (Matter of Devison-Charles). Retrieved November 5, 2011, from National Immigration Law Center: http://www.nilc.org/immlawpolicy/removcrim/removcrim046.htm La Ganga, M. L. (2009, October 21).

San Francisco supervisors vote to overturn policy on illegal immigrants. Retrieved November 5, 2011, from Los Angeles Times: http://articles.latimes.com/2009/oct/21/local/me-sf-sanctuary21 Lorenzo, C. (2006, June 12). DJJ announces immigration status checks for juvenile offenders. Retrieved November 5, 2011, from Florida Department of Juvenile Justice: http://www.djj.state.fl.us/Communications/pr/2006/pr061206.html McKinley, J. (2009, November 10). Potential San Francisco showdown over immigration.

Retrieved November 5, 2011, from The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/11/us/11sanctuary.html