No 'sanctuaries' for illegals - Articles - CAIR - Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform

In the June 20 edition of Time Magazine, CIA Director Porter Goss "acknowledges that part of the difficulty in capturing Osama bin Laden is sanctuaries in nations." Since September 11, U.S. troops, alongside allied forces, have captured or killed hundreds of individuals, including the recent arrest of Abu Faraj al Libi — al Qaeda's top operations commander and confidant to Osama bin Laden. However, it is long believed that many al Qaeda members have been able to elude being brought to justice by hiding in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border....

Unfortunately, the Afghan border is not the only sanctuary where terrorists can lie low to escape justice. Remarkably, criminals and terrorists can now find a form of safe haven within the United States. Some U.S. states and cities are refusing to enforce federal immigration laws and have implemented policies that effectively provide safe haven for illegal aliens. These "cities of sanctuary" do not require, and may actually prohibit, their employees from reporting to federal officials about aliens who may be illegally present in the country.

...creating communities that ignore the laws of the United States has increasingly resulted in an attractive home for all sorts of other people who come to the United States with less pure intentions, including drug and human traffickers, gangs, weapons smugglers and terrorists.

Innocent citizens have already paid the price for these misguided policies. In 2002, a 42-year-old woman was brutally assaulted by five people in New York City. It turns out that four of the attackers were in the United States illegally, and three had extensive arrest histories. Despite their criminal pasts, the assailants were allowed to remain in the United States because New York City police officers were barred from disclosing immigration information to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which is now U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Just a few weeks ago, Denver Detective Donald Young was fatally shot by Raul Garcia-Gomez, an illegal alien from Mexico. Mr. Garcia-Gomez was in the United States despite being pulled over and ticketed three times in the past seven months by Denver police officers. However, Mr. Garcia-Gomez was never questioned about his immigration status because Denver police officers are prohibited from questioning suspects about their immigration status unless they have been arrested for another crime. These are the types of events that could be prevented if officials at all levels of government are allowed to work together to ensure America's safety...

The issue is becoming more and more prevalent in the United States. In my home state of Michigan, for example, a local resolution was passed requesting the Detroit police department to refrain its officers from enforcing federal immigration laws. Officials in San Diego, Houston, Los Angeles and Minneapolis have implemented policies restricting coordination with federal authorities. Most recently, the governor of Maine announced an executive order that prohibits the state from enforcing federal immigration laws. It was not too long ago that Mohammed Atta and one other of the September 11 hijackers began their day at the airport in Portland, Maine, before traveling to Boston to board the planes that would later fly into the World Trade Center towers.

Does this really seem reasonable, especially when we know terrorists continue to pursue American targets? The threat to the homeland remains very real. As a result, we must be vigilant, not complicit, in our response to terrorist movement. We must take meaningful action to end so-called "sanctuaries" before they become full-blown safe havens for criminals and terrorists....

Rep. Peter Hoekstra is the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.