Broome County Jail’s ICE program part of a system that ignores due process | Opinion
Ruth Blizard, a Binghamton resident, criticizes the Broome County Jail’s ICE program, which she says could have “unintended consequences for all of us.”
- Local law enforcement cooperation with ICE is causing fear and uncertainty among immigrants, regardless of legal status.
- Immigrants in Broome County jail are isolated, potentially without legal representation, and may be transferred to ICE without a hearing.
- The Laken Riley Act allows indefinite detention of immigrants arrested for minor theft, even before charges or conviction, based on suspected illegal status.
Local law enforcement officials cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement can have an alarming effect on many immigrants, regardless of their legal status, and unintended consequences for all of us. Many thanks to Jillian McCarthy for her reporting on local immigration issues.
The American Civic Association’s Refugee Program Supervisor, Steve Ordoñez, said the community is already dealing with fear and uncertainty, so when they hear the sheriff’s office is participating in anything involving ICE, he believes it makes this division worse.
“The rhetoric has been that we’re getting criminals out of our neighborhoods and that if you haven’t done anything wrong you don’t have to be afraid of deportation proceedings, but the reality is that programs that qualified immigrants as legal permanent residents under the previous administration have been rolled back,” he said.
Once an immigrant is in the Broome County jail, they are placed in isolation, per jail procedure. They may have no access to legal representation, or even family and friends. Thus, they may be turned over to ICE without any hearing as to their immigration status or right to remain in the U.S.
The recently passed Laken Riley Act, supported by U.S. Rep. Josh Riley, permits the immediate and indefinite detention of an immigrant who has been arrested for a minor theft, whether or not they have even been charged, much less convicted, simply because they are suspected of being in the country illegally. This is contrary to the guarantees in the constitution that persons accused of crimes are “innocent until proven guilty.”
Much of the rhetoric coming from White House and Cabinet officials portrays immigrants as violent criminals. They are conflating misdemeanor theft with “crimes that result in death or serious injury.” Persons charged with dangerous crimes may be held without bail, but they are still entitled to legal representation and a speedy trial. What difference does it make that the accused is an immigrant, documented or not? Shouldn’t all persons have the right to a fair trial?
The truth is that undocumented immigrants are statistically less likely to commit crimes than are citizens. Demonizing immigrants in the U.S. is not much different from debasing Jews in Nazi Germany, or placing U.S. citizens of Japanese descent in detention camps during WWII. All of us who are not Native Americans are descended from immigrants. It was not so long ago that businesses warned immigrants, “Irish need not apply.”
What happens if we round up or frighten away large numbers of immigrants? Who will pick our crops, milk our cows, process our meat and poultry? Who will clean our hospitals or offices at night, care for our elderly parents in nursing homes, do dangerous construction jobs like hurricane cleanup or building railroads, or cook our meals at the Chinese restaurant? We all owe a debt to the immigrants who work long hours for low pay so they can live in safety and send their children to school.
Ruth Blizard is a Binghamton resident and board member of Justice and Unity for the Southern Tier.