ACLU Commends Mayor for New Guidelines on D.C. Government and Immigrants: Treat Everyone Alike and Leave Immigration Enforcement to the Federal Government

Johnny Barnes, Executive Director of the ACLU of the Nation’s Capital, said today, “We’re pleased D.C. remains uninvolved in the Secure Communities program of the federal immigration agency.  The Mayor’s order issued Wednesday makes clear that law enforcement here will treat all residents equally.  Anything else fatally endangers the District government’s relationship with immigrant communities.”

ACLU joined with others in testifying last year against involvement in the program.  Dramatic accounts by immigrant women, especially, showed the Council the high cost when police are required, by programs such as Secure Communities, to approach immigrants with suspicion.  The witnesses said they were simply unlikely to report crimes.

Barnes added, “It’s clear immigration enforcement should remain a federal responsibility.  The ACLU affiliates around the nation have challenged efforts to deputize local officers, and to pass local versions of immigration laws as Arizona and others have done; both are ill advised.  D.C. has taken the right path: with the Council’s leadership several years ago, reaffirmed now by the Mayor.”

ACLU staff attorney Carl Takei testified to the D.C. Council last year warning against “eroding the line between civil immigration enforcement and the MPD‘s criminal investigatory work” and citing studies of the abuses such as profiling (stops and arrests done chiefly to check immigration papers) that result when untrained local police are asked to begin immigration enforcement.

The Mayor’s new order makes clear that D.C. law enforcement agencies will not inquire about a person’s immigration status or contact federal officials for the purpose of enforcing immigration proceedings that have no connection to criminal investigation.  Nor will law enforcement inquire about the immigration status of crime victims or witnesses.

“That’s what we advocated in our testimony last year, and what we worked for this year with our friends in the immigrant community. We’re delighted with the Mayor’s order,” said Barnes.

“It is very significant that the Mayor of Washington, D.C., has taken a pro immigrant stand, especially in this anti-immigrant climate, reaffirming that citizens and non citizens alike should be treated equally,” said Sarahi Uribe, National Campaign Coordinator of NDLON, The National Day Laborer Organizing Network.  “This Executive Order makes it clear that there is a bright line between our local police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.  This would not have been possible without the ACLU of the Nation’s Capital and our other coalition partners,” concluded Uribe.