Among its recommendations, in addition to suspending immigration enforcement programs pending a review by the Inspector General, Amnesty is urging the U.S. government to pass legislation that guarantees equitable access to justice and protection for survivors of crime' respect and facilitate the use of indigenous identity papers and immigration documents for travel across borders; and to ensure, as a matter of priority, that its border policies and practices do not have the direct or indirect effect of leading to the deaths of migrants.
Harassment and racial profiling are everyday inconveniences -- and worse -- for people in the border region. For example, in April 2011, a person we'll call Alfred -- a US citizen of Dominican descent, went to assist three of his father's employees who had been involved in a car accident. The T exas State Trooper responded to the accident and was a lready at the scene when Alfredo arrived . Alfredo des cr i be d to Amnesty International how the trooper continually delayed completing the accident report: "I t h o ug ht it was a typical accident but it took longe r ... I asked the Trooper how long we would have to stay and he said, "just a little more' and never said why."
After about three hours, four sheriff ' s deputies arrived and surrounded Alfredo and the rest of the group with their ve hicle s . Minutes later an unmarked silver pick-up truck pulled up and a man got out who was dressed in khaki -- Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents often wear kh aki u ni form s .
According to Alfredo, "He was very disrespectful . He asked, "How are you in the United States?' and said, "Sit down or I'll hit you' to everyone . Initially he didn ' t believe that I was a US citizen . When he found out that I was, he just said, "I'm sorry' and identified himself as an ICE officer by showing me his badge" He tried to intimidate e veryone . He made comments that we were all illegal. He treated us worse than ani m al s. "
The Report is particularly critical of two of the more controversial immigration enforcement programs currently being implemented: The Secure Communities Program and an older one known as 287(g).
Under the 287(g) program, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in effect deputizes local law enforcement officers to act as proxies for DHS officers in enforcing immigration laws. The Govermment see 287(g) as a force multiplier. In 2008, the Colorado state 287(g) unit alone made 777 immigration arrests. In that same year the entire ICE investigations office based in Denver, which covers all of Colorado and several other states, made a total of 1,594 arrests. In Maricopa County, Ariz., the local ICE detention and removal manager supervises five ICE deportation agents, who are supplemented by 64 additional locally paid county jail 287(g) officers who also identify and process criminal aliens.
But many police and sheriff's departments strongly oppose the program because they say the training is inadequate for one of the most complex legal disciplines, and that both the training and the operation of the program suck scarce resources away from their main mission, which is maintaining the peace.
The second controvsersial program is known as Secure Communities, or SECOM. This program facilitatives local law officers to routinely enter into a DHS database the particulars of persons arrested locally so that their immigration status can be verified.
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