The police chiefs for Minnesota's two largest cities, Tim Dolan of Minneapolis and John Harrington of St. Paul, released a joint press release opposing an Arizona-style immigration bill that was introduced at the State Capitol on Wednesday.
Community policing is a core value and clear priority in the cities we serve. It is through partnership with people and communities that our cities are made safer, because partnership builds trust and communication. Our officers have worked hard to build relationships of trust with our residents, especially new Americans, and these partnerships have helped us bring down crime in both Minneapolis and Saint Paul over the past several years.
We believe that mobilizing local police to serve as primary enforcers of federal immigration laws will throw up barriers of mistrust and cause a chilling effect in immigrant communities, impairing our ability to build partnerships and engage in problem-solving that improves the safety of all members of the community. The culture of fear that this bill will instill in immigrant communities will keep victims of crime and people with information about crime from coming forward, and that will endanger all residents.
HF3830 was introduced by Rep. Steve Drazkowski (R-Mazeppa):
A bill for an act relating to public safety; illegal immigration; requiring law enforcement to enforce federal immigration laws; establishing eligibility criteria for federal and state public benefits; requiring possession of alien identification cards; prohibiting the transporting and smuggling of illegal immigrants; prohibiting illegal immigrants from working or soliciting work in the state; prohibiting the employment of illegal aliens; creating the Minnesota Illegal Immigration Enforcement Team; requiring the attorney general to represent the state against any challenges to this act; amending Minnesota Statutes 2009 Supplement, section 629.34, subdivision 1; proposing coding for new law as Minnesota Statutes, chapter 299P.
(Bluestem Prairie)
Thanks to the two police chiefs for joining the chorus and asking for the stupid to stop.
