Assemblyman wants police to ask about citizenship
CRACKDOWN: Bauer says law would keep Anchorage from becoming "a gateway for illegals."
By KYLE HOPKINS
khopkins@adn.com
Published: September 10, 2007
Sir, can I please see your license, registration and proof that you're an American?
Assemblyman Paul Bauer says he wants to strike Anchorage from a list of "sanctuary cities."
Assemblyman Paul Bauer is proposing a new city law that could have police asking certain drivers if they are U.S. citizens during routine traffic stops. It's part of a proposal that would force local police to team up with federal immigration authorities to crack down on illegal immigrants.
"It's a preventative measure," Bauer said Friday. "Let's not be a gateway for illegals."
The proposal is on the agenda for the Assembly's Tuesday meeting. It's based on a boilerplate ordinance written by a group in Washington, D.C., that believes the federal government isn't doing enough to target illegal or undocumented immigrants and it's up to cities and states to pick up the slack.
Last week, as Bauer's proposal became public, downtown Assemblyman Allan Tesche said the plan would only stir up paranoia and hatred of immigrants.
"Why doesn't Mr. Bauer help us all and pin yellow stars on these immigrants?" he asked in a sarcastic reference to the marking of Jews in Nazi Germany.
Bauer says he wants to strike Anchorage from a list of "sanctuary cities" circulating in conservative circles. Definitions vary, but so-called sanctuary cities are generally seen as communities that protect or tolerate illegal immigrants.
Mayor Mark Begich doesn't support the proposed law, which his spokeswoman, Julie Hasquet, said is pointless.
"We don't need this," she said. "We are already cooperating fully with the federal immigration officials and we are not a sanctuary city."
Either way, Bauer's proposal embroils the Anchorage Assembly in a national argument over immigration law that touches on terrorism, the Patriot Act, civil rights and, in this case, talk show host Bill O'Reilly.
LET THE FEDS DO IT
In July 2003, the Anchorage Assembly joined the state and other Alaska cities in protesting the U.S.A. Patriot Act with a two-page resolution.
Proposed by Tesche, the resolution said the city wouldn't help the federal government by, say, collecting information on people's religious beliefs, tracking their library records or racially profiling those who live here. It also said that unless necessary to protect public safety, the city would not "Use municipal resources or institutions for the enforcement of federal immigration matters, which are the responsibility of the federal government."
Tesche said at the time that the Patriot Act could demand that local police help or launch immigration investigations that they don't have the time or training for.
Bauer says this put Anchorage on a list of "sanctuary cities" for illegal immigrants -- a list often culled from a footnote in a 2006 report on immigration law by the Congressional Research Service, the research arm of the U.S. Congress.
Conservative talk show host Bill O'Reilly publicized the list, putting Anchorage in the cross hairs of people who say federal and local governments should do more to catch illegal immigrants.
City Hall says the label is wrong, and Hasquet and the mayor have both e-mailed O'Reilly in protest, Hasquet said: "I went to their site today and it said 'e-mail Bill.' So I did."
Some cities, such as Chicago, ban police from asking people if they are legal U.S. citizens, according to The Associated Press. Anchorage has no such rule, Hasquet said.
Anchorage Police Department Capt. Bill Miller said the 2003 resolution -- which is not a law -- did not change the way police work with immigration authorities.
"We enforce any law that we have the opportunity to enforce," he said.
TIME TO TALK ABOUT IT
Bauer said his proposal is based on a draft law written by the Immigration Reform Law Institute.
Staff attorney Sharma Hammond says the group has helped draft immigration policies for the states of Oklahoma, Colorado and Georgia. She said the idea is for local authorities to team up with Homeland Security to get training so they can catch illegal immigrants.
It is unclear how the proposed law would work, but here's how Bauer pictures it: An Anchorage police officer with special immigration training might stop someone for a broken taillight. The officer could then ask the driver for proof he or she is a U.S. citizen, which could include checking a driver's license as well as checking national databases.
If the officer determines the driver is an illegal immigrant, he or she could be handed over to federal immigration authorities.
Bauer said he's not clear on the details of the process, which he said would have to be worked out by the federal government and local police. As written, the proposal appears to say that police would routinely ask everyone they detain if they are a U.S. citizen, but Bauer said that's not his intent and could be fixed with a rewrite of the proposal.
Lt. Paul Honeman said the Police Department generally stays out of debates over Assembly proposals but also doesn't have any plans to make its officers into quasi-immigration agents.
"We don't have the resources," he said. "We believe we have other issues to deal with."
Bauer said the problem is that the city is on record saying it won't use its resources to enforce immigration laws and he wants to get people at least talking about illegal immigration in Alaska.
Even if the proposal proceeds as scheduled, any public hearing would still be weeks away. |
