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| DOC And Immigration Walking Thin Line |
| By wnyc.org |
| Published: 11/11/2010 |
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For twenty years, Federal immigration officials have been stationed on Rikers Island. Critics say the Department of Corrections offers them too much assistance in identifying foreign-born non-citizens, some of whom end up in deportation proceedings. The practice came under fire Monday during a City Council hearing. Critics say all too often immigrants who are in detention, but have not been convicted of a crime, are reported to ICE, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Queens Councilmember Julissa Ferreras says the city should show more discretion before sharing inmate information with the federal authorities. She said "if a family member was arrested for having a beer on the street and that it escalated because of a language barrier and that person gets detained and this has lead now for a deportation, I think it's a gross use of power." Aarti Shahani is a research associate with Justice Strategies, a prison advocacy group. She presented a study that said people who were tagged for deportation hadn't necessarily committed a crime or presented a greater security risk. They just happened to be in jail. "If New York City is graciously allowing a partnership with Homeland Security, they need to start asking questions about the metrics, what's actually being accomplished here," Shahani said, "And I think that's the box that was opened today." Read More. |
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