Agreement reached for protection of illegal Caribbean immigrants in New York

TIMES INT'L

Outgoing New York Governor David Paterson says he has reached an agreement with United States federal officials to help protect illegal Caribbean and other nationals without criminal records.

Paterson, the grandson of Jamaican and Grenadian immigrants, says the agreement seeks to appease critics of a new government programme to strengthen immigration enforcement.

He said the agreement ensures that immigrants who pose the greatest threat to public safety are “a priority” for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

“While I am very concerned with protecting the civil rights of immigrants, I am equally cognisant of the fact that this state is a prime target for terrorism. This new agreement balances the homeland security and civil liberties’ issues that have surrounded the Secure Communities Initiative. I continue to believe it is appropriate and important for New York State to share information with the federal government that could protect us from terrorist attacks,” the governor said.

Under the Secure Communities programme, fingerprints collected by local police departments are automatically shared with federal immigration officials.

Paterson said the “cornerstone” of Secure Communities is the activation of new information- sharing capabilities to automatically alert local law enforcement and ICE when potentially deportable criminal immigrants come into local custody. Advocates for the immigrant community had expressed concern that, under the original agreement, Caribbean and other immigrants charged with minor offences could face deportation.

They had also expressed concern that such a sweeping initiative would discourage immigrants from cooperating with police. With the new agreement, Paterson said, “it is clear that convicted felons, and not individuals whose only offence is remaining in the country illegally, are the target of Secure Communities.”

The governor, earlier this week, pardoned 24 immigrants, including Caribbean nationals who were subjected to deportation because of prior criminal convictions. (CMC)

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