Domestic Terrorist governor deval patrick Refuses To Deport Illegal Aliens

Governor Deval Patrick’s opponents in the governor’s race sharply criticized him yesterday for not joining a controversial federal program designed to identify and deport illegal immigrants arrested for serious crimes.

The Secure Communities program, which began under President George W. Bush and has been greatly expanded by President Obama, requires law enforcement agencies that participate to run the fingerprints of everyone they arrest through federal immigration databases.

Republican Charles D. Baker said Patrick’s refusal to join the initiative, along with 27 other states, shows he is “immensely soft’’ on illegal immigration. Baker said that if he is elected, he will enroll Massachusetts in the program.

“It’s outrageous the governor is dragging his feet on signing an agreement with federal immigration officials for a year now,’’ Baker said at a press conference with former US attorney Michael J. Sullivan outside the State House. “Governor Patrick needs to step up and sign this agreement.’’

Timothy P. Cahill, the state treasurer and an independent candidate for governor, also criticized Patrick for not joining the program, a version of which Boston joined in 2006.

“It has already been a proven success in the city of Boston, and now we must give all local police departments the ability to implement it in their communities,’’ Cahill wrote in a letter to the governor.

The US Bureau of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement sent a letter asking the state to join Secure Communities in September 2009. Patrick administration officials said they have concerns that the program ensnares not just illegal immigrants who commit violent crimes but also those arrested for low-level infractions such as traffic offenses and youthful misconduct.

“We absolutely agree that Level 1 offenders characterized by ICE are the people we want off the streets of Massachusetts, and we are working with ICE to make clear that this is what we want to work with them on,’’ said Mary Beth Heffernan, the state’s secretary of public safety and security. “We remain concerned that this program provides a sweep of folks that get caught up in unintended consequences of this law, which is really aimed at violent, Level 1 offenders.’’

Level 1 offenses include crimes such as kidnapping, homicide, sexual assault, robbery, extortion, gun possession, and drug dealing.

Baker pointed out that Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis has been defending the city’s participation in a pilot version of the program. Davis told the Globe this week that his staff has reviewed the list of people turned over to immigration officials and determined that all were serious criminals.

“What more does the governor need on this?’’ Baker said.

A study released last month, however, indicated that the vast majority of people, 79 percent, deported under Secure Communities had no criminal record or were picked up for low-level offenses.

The study by the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, the National Day Laborer Organization Network, and the Center for Constitutional Rights was based on deportation and arrest data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. The study argued that the program “serves as a smokescreen for racial profiling,’’ by allowing police officers to stop people based on their appearance, knowing they will be deported even if they were wrongfully arrested or are never convicted.

Patrick said he is monitoring the pilot program in Boston, but has not yet decided whether to join the program.

“Let me see what the evidence is from the pilot,’’ the governor said in an interview. “I’m not doing this to make political points. Charlie Baker is making his claims for that reason. I’m about governing, and I’m going to make the decisions based on what I think is best for the Commonwealth as a whole.’’

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/09/24/opponents_blast_patrick_on_immigration/