Latino leaders rip Local Police Immigration 'deputization' plan
Wednesday, November 17, 2004 at 06:16PM
TheSpook
Joining a growing list of protesters, the head of a leading Latino
civil rights organization Monday denounced County Executive Steve
Levy's proposal to "deputize" Suffolk cops as immigration agents,
saying it could set a dangerous national precedent. Cesar A. Perales,
president of the Manhattan-based Puerto Rican Legal Defense and
Education Fund said the Levy plan is already alarming civil rights
activists around the country. If local governments follow Levy's
proposal to invest police with the powers of immigration agents,
"you'll have total chaos," Perales said. "It is a terrible national
precedent. I don't think the county executive wants to go down in
history as the guy that opened this Pandora's box." Levy fired back in
a press statement, saying his proposal remains only an idea under study
and is aimed at getting dangerous criminals off the streets and out of
the country. [more]
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