Wednesday, June 21, 2006

State Should Stay Out of Deportation Business

John Daley is right. If Governor Romney goes through with his plan to have State Troopers act as immigration officials, you can forget about those communities reporting crimes. Places like Boston already have problems with witnesses coming forward. If people have to worry that they'll be deported if they talk to the cops, they simply won't. Even immigrants who are here legally will be more reluctant to cooperate for fear of a misunderstanding that could land them in jail. This will completely undermine efforts to gain the trust of these communities to root out serious crime and possible links to terrorism.

The Feds have no interest in enforcing immigration laws but why should we use state resources and jeopardize public safety here in Massachusetts to round up people who are otherwise not causing us any problems?