Immigrant Rights: No 287g in CT

Updated February 24, 2008

Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) was made law in the United States in 1996 as a result of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA).

Section 287(g) authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to enter into agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies, permitting designated officers to perform immigration law enforcement functions, pursuant to a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), provided that the local law enforcement officers receive appropriate training and function under the supervision of sworn U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

Under 287(g), ICE provides state and local law enforcement with the training and subsequent authorization to identify, process, and when appropriate, detain immigration offenders they encounter during their regular, daily law-enforcement activity.

The Danbury Common Council voted 19-2 in February 2008 to give Police Chief Al Baker authorization to enter into a partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Why Oppose 287(g) Agreements Must Be Opposed in Connecticut:

Police Should Not Be Arresting Refugees

Immigrants from Latin America are overwhelmingly refugees fleeing poverty;

Poverty in Latin American has often been caused or aggravated by US government support of right-wing dictatorships in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and Nicaragua among other countries.

People don't risk their lives crossing the Mexican desert unless they have no other options to feed their families.

The table of the American Dream is broad enough for hard-working immigrants to sit at.

As people of faith, we believe that poor, hungry and excluded people are especially blessed by God and that we are morally obligated to welcome the stranger and set a feast for the poor.