Secure Communities

          A safe and secure community is what we all want.  However, with 11 million illegal aliens in our country who do not respect our border, our immigration laws, use stolen identities and forged documents, how secure are communities?  When illegals are arrested for minor crimes in sanctuary cities such as Seattle and Portland, they are not turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and, in time, are released back into the community.  Because of cities like these and a federal government that seems incapable of securing the border and fickle regarding immigration enforcement, the burden of securing communities has increasingly fallen on those localities willing to act.

          The tide is moving away from sanctuary cities and even away from Washington D.C.  Arizona Senate Bill 1070 and Georgia House Bill 87 are two examples of states acting where the federal government has been impotent.  While I still hold out hope that congress will act to secure the border and consistently enforce immigration law an increasingly frustrated citizenry is forcing local action. 

          Last year the two largest cities in Lewis County, where I live in Washington State, along with the county government, passed ordinances requiring the use of E-Verify to ensure the citizenship of public employees and most contract workers.  This is a step in the right direction.  Just days ago, the Lewis County sheriff, Steve Mansfield, agreed to join a new federal program called Secure Communities.  This program, run by Homeland Security, focuses on finding and deporting the most serious criminal offenders among the illegal aliens.  Lewis County is moving in the right direction.   

          While I would have preferred that Secure Communities deport all criminal offenders it is still a move in the right direction.  Step by painfully fought step, communities across America are winning the battle to control illegal immigration.