Houston as a Sanctuary City - Report Example

Reading Header: HOUSTON AS A SANCTUARY WHY IT MUST END NOW number: Lecturer: Houston as a Sanctuary Why it Must End Now The current cross-border violence instigated by Mexican drug cartels has revived the eternal debate of illegal immigrants permeating the United States borders. Although this are clearly criminal elements from Mexico fighting over drug cartel dominance, right-wing conservative groups have being quick to link them with the many illegal immigrants currently residing within the US borders as their drug conduits. The presence of many large US cities that humanly offer refuge to the unfortunate poor ‘aliens’ in the so-called sanctuary cities has further enraged the right-wingers whose foremost racist agenda is to ship all non-Americans back to their motherlands. In Houston with its liberal policies of openness, the conservative caucuses have engaged the local authorities in a vicious campaign to eradicate illegal immigrants from the city and her environs. Through an application of sanctuary policies, Houston local authorities have managed to assimilate many migrant communities in social programs that encourage easier integration and reporting of any unscrupulous persons within their midst. Although a 1996 federal law – the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) and the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act obliges local authorities to liaise with the Department of Homeland Securitys Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), to apprehend illegal immigrants within the United States cities and towns, many large cities have largely ignored this draconian rules, continuing to practice sanctuary policies either through written or unwritten resolutions, ordinances, and other administrative orders prohibiting local authorities including the police department from ‘harassing’ the immigrants if not engaged in any criminal acts. The Federal statutes have however been upheld by the Court of Appeals in the New York v. U.S. [1999] and later by the US Supreme Court which reaffirmed the validity of the federal rules in the Muelher v. Mena decisions on inquiry of an individual’s immigration status. The opposition to the City’s immigration policies has been mainly from the right-wing conservative lobby of the Republican Party, enjoined by many other conservative groups. Conservative activists like Craig Nelson of Project-USA an organization which advocates an end to illegal immigration indicated the term “sanctuary” refers to the local authorities or cities that repudiate federal agents’ intent on enforcing immigration rules. Christopher J. Farrell a director of another conservative legal group who are suing the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) due to its ‘sanctuary’ status remarked that, “It’s mind-blowing for us to see taxpayer dollars spent to subsidize criminal activity — that’s the end result,” (McKINLEY, 2). These groups have connected crime statistics to the influx of illegal immigrants, arguing that in cities with sanctuary policies like Houston, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, higher crime waves have been reported. Although other studies link most violent crime to inner cities mostly inhabited by African-Americans, right wing groups have linked them to Hispanic communities with links to South American gangs like the El Salvadoran MS13. The Houston Police Department (HPD) liberal sanctuary policy (General Order No. 500-5) has operated for almost two decades in a joint program aimed at rehabilitating the racially segregated migrant communities into mainstream Houston families which are largely supported by the Church and a majority of the city residents. According to Police Chief C.O. Bradford, Houstons guiding principle of tolerance is solid stating that "The Houston Police Department policy has been in effect since 1992. It is our belief that our policy is in compliance with the law," (Claremont-Institute, 1). The current Police Chief Harold Hurtt while advocating the reasoning behind the offering of ‘sanctuary’ to unregistered immigrants referred to the Major Cities Chiefs Association (a grouping of leading city fathers) statement which explained that targeting suspected aliens in the US cities can backfire as the police have developed amicable relationships with the ‘special communities’ whereby they have agreed to report crime as it happens and serving as witnesses. Any move against them would jeopardize this ‘special rapport’ and escalate crime as they will shy away from the authorities to hide their illegal status. The Houston City Mayors Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs has declared through its website that its “policy was is to encourage access by all persons residing in the city of Houston, regardless of nation of birth or current citizenship status, to the full benefits, opportunities and services which are provided and administered by the city of Houston."(City-of-Houston). Many people recognize that most of these illegal immigrants into the US are merely trying to escape raw poverty in their home countries. They are hardworking people willing to undertake menial degrading jobs that ordinary Americans are unwilling to do. Across the border in Mexico, the average minimum wage is 29.70 Pesos or approximately $3.02 dollars per day as compared to the minimally federal regulated wage of $5.85 dollars per hour in the United States. This huge wage difference is augmented by the deplorable social and working conditions in their home countries are a great incentive for the many poor migrants from Mexico and other Third World countries. One of the first casualties of the Gulf War Lance Corporal Jose Gutierrez was a former street boy from Guatemala orphaned at age eight who escaped to the US and went on to serve in Iraq (Ballve, 1). Despite the outcry from conservatives, the immigrants still face many challenges even with the prevalence of the City’s moderate policies. The Catholic Community’s Justice for Immigrants organization and several other liberal organizations have accused the local authorities in Houston of arbitrary arrests and harassment of the Hispanic community under the guise of searching for illegal immigrants. These security agents are mostly encouraged by the right wing groups who cite federal laws while claiming that they contaminate the neighborhoods. The pro-immigrants groups’ main contention is that the immigrants are just disadvantaged hardworking communities who are intent in better life and funds to feed their poor families back home. Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, Archbishop of Galveston-Houston argued that, “Certainly we want to protect our borders…, punitive measures alone are going to be ultimately ineffective, and I think counterproductive. Most of the immigrants who come here really want to work and be part of our country." (Zwick, 3). However one of the greatest proponents of deportation US Congressman Tom Tancredo (Republican-Colorado), has managed to have a radical amendment to a Department of Homeland Security spending Bill passed in the House of Representatives in 2007. This amendment was aimed at withholding funding to the ‘sanctuary cities’ of up to 50 percent, including anti-terrorist funds, and making undocumented status a felony from the milder status of a civil offense (DOBBS 2). However the law has yet to be passed by the Senate to become effective. According to these opponents of the illegal immigrants, the main problems posed by the aliens are: violent crime and hard drugs dealings and exposed to American families; culture discord whereby the immigrants are not even conversant in the English language; introduction of crime and drugs into the school system; taking away jobs from ordinary Americans due to their low wages; strain on public services by aliens who don’t pay taxes; sanctuary of criminal gangs like the El-Salvador’s MS13; unreported crime by illegal foreign citizens; linkage to the terrorist groups like AL-Qaeda; and lastly the sheer illegality of the people roaming freely in the country. The efforts of the moderate lobbies in extending sanctuary to disadvantaged communities who just want to work hard for their living and feed their families has been dampened by the onslaught of the Mexican murderous gangs that have turned the US-Mexico border into a virtual warzone. These cartels are allegedly killed 6,290 people in 2008 alone and more than 1,000 during the first eight weeks of 2009. According to the Homeland Security Roger Rufe, the Mexican drug cartels constitute the biggest organized crime threat to the United States (Calvert 4). Houston’s proximity to the illegal entry points and its large Hispanic community has led to the right-wing community renewed attack on the continued proliferation of foreign citizens within the city’s environs. The xenophobic and racially motivated attacks have further been fuelled by the global economic crisis that has rendered many people jobless. High unemployment rates have fuelled anti-immigrants lobbies’ assertion that foreigners have taken over their jobs even though most immigrants engage in largely menial low paying jobs that are unpalatable to the average American. One of the most vocal anti-illegal immigrants is Houston’s failed Republican city Councilwoman candidate Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, who has taken the anti-illegal immigrant fight as her campaign platform. Decrying the Houston city’s sanctuary policies, she argued that, “Terrorists, drug runners and cartel members could be among us, and police officers are not allowed to check their identities… politicians fear that asking people who have no ID about their legal status might intimidate all illegal’s into not reporting crimes. This policy of appeasement must be stopped.” While another activist Heather McDonald a lawyer at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research while testifying before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims alleged that Los Angeles police officers face disciplinary action if they take action against known felons previously deported if found within the city precincts. These illogical arguments have tended to harness racialist tendencies of citizens who use the immigrant’s status in as a lame-duck excuse for all the local societies’ failings forgetting that a majority of American citizens are composed of migrant families some of whom arrived in the country illegally (Claremont-Institute, 1). Another contention is that the immigrants are a strain on Houston’s public amenities. They allege that the city’s sanctuary status has continued to encourage illegal immigrants to ‘freely’ enjoy free services like health, schools, food, clothing, as well as security services. These allegations are distorted since most of the immigrants are the most hardworking groups well aware of their untenable status hence putting extra effort to sustain themselves while avoiding any special services like insurance, vehicles, among other since they cannot qualify due to their illegal immigration status. A majority of the illegal immigrants also use cash payments and reside in deplorable conditions to save on their meager earnings which are mostly remitted back to their home countries. In case of sickness or ill-health they lack insurance and have to be laid off without pay. In Houston, many anti-immigration lobbies focus on the South-American Diaspora population while ignoring that there are many other sizable communities ranging from Asians (Indians communities are one of the fastest growing), former African students (mostly Nigerians) extending their stay in the US but who are highly educated, and East Europeans who also have criminal elements within their ranks among others. The obsession with the Hispanics is due to disquiet of their swelling numbers and use of Spanish language among themselves. (Calvert, 4) Conclusion Houston City sanctuary policies have heralded many advantages to the region including providing a valuable workforce to the numerous industries domesticated there. Although most of the immigrant labor force has been non-technical, a number of highly skilled immigrants especially from Asian countries make a large proportion of the non-Hispanic migrants. Allegations of cultural differences including language barrier are inconsequential in view of the fact that a majority come to Houston due to the prevalence of their former countrymen residing there. Nevertheless many of the migrants are Christians and are already conversant with the English language. The incidence of crime among the migrant community should be viewed in isolation as a majority of them are hard-working and have workable relationship with the security agents to root out criminal elements among them. Houston sanctuary policies detractors should desist from negatively portraying the city as ‘gangsters’ paradise’ and rather concentrate on the positive aspects of the city which have been enhanced by the diverse migrant communities. America is a migrant society and a beacon of hope for the many disadvantaged people of the world and who constitute America’s founding fathers. References Ballve, Marcelo. "U.S. Sanctuary Laws Under Attack." 10 September 2003. Pacific News Service. 27 April 2009 . Blankinship, Gary. "Presidents Message: Time For Mayor To Take Lead Against ˜Sanctuary." April 2009. Houston Police Union. 28 April 2009 . Calvert, Robert A. "Encyclopedia Article: Houston." 2009. Encarta® Online Encyclopedia. 27 April 2009 . City-of-Houston. "Houston City Policy Statement." 2007. Houstontx.gov. 28 April 2009 . Claremont-Institute. "Sanctuary Cities: A New Civil War." 7 September 2005. The Claremont Institute. 27 April 2009 . DOBBS, LOU. "CNN.com Transcripts October 2005." 5 October 2007. CNN.com. 27 April 2009 . Gaynair, Gillian. 12 April 2007. The Virginian-Pilot. 27 April 2009 . McGarry, Mike. "A Serious Impediment to Stemming Crime." 16 August 2007. Post Time Media. 27 April 2009 . McKINLEY, JESSE. "Immigrant Protection Rules Draw Fire." 6 November 2006. New York Times. 27 April 2009 . OHARE, PEGGY. "`Sanctuary policy irks some in HPD Accused killer helped by hands- off provison." 7 March 2003. Houston Chronicle. 27 April 2009 . OReillys, Bill. ""Talking Points Memo" and "Pinheads and Patriots"." 2007. Fox News. 27 April 2009 . Stiles, Matt and Alexis Grant. "Houstons Sanctuary Policy is Not Confusing." 23 June 2006. Houston Chronicle. 28 April 2009 . Tancredo, Tom. IMMIGRATION PROBLEMS: Sanctuary Policy and Crime. Washington DC: Congress: House or Representatives, 2003. Zwick, Mark and Louise. "Is Houston a Sanctuary City? ." Houston Catholic Worker January and February 2008: Vol. XXVIII. Read More