VivirLatino

Government pushes Houston to crack down on illegal immigration

18:02 H | Topics: Cities - Houston - Immigration

I never thought of my hometown as a "haven" for the undocumented (much less its suburb Katy, or Austin), but apparently the U.S. government thinks so, and is pressuring Houston officials to change this:

City Councilman Mark Ellis is trying to force a vote on a plan directing police to enforce immigration law and requiring proof of citizenship for people receiving social services. The local effort coincides with a push by President George W. Bush and bills in Congress to crack down on illegal immigration.

``The federal government, they're not going to be able to get their arms around this issue alone,'' Ellis said in a telephone interview. ``They're going to have to have assistance from the local government and state government.''

This is a scary thought. I think most undocumented people live in fear of being "caught" by local officials anyway, and don't even know that police aren't supposed to be questioning them about their legal status. As if the government formerly known as the INS weren't foreboding enough, imagine a bunch of local police officers turned vigilante urban border patrol.

Via / Bloomberg and Hispanic Tips

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• In the Voice of Immigrant Women : They Wanted to Take Away My Baby (Tuesday, Mar 25 2008)