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UTAH:Police chief, lawmakers trade barbs over illegal immigration
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Police chief, lawmakers trade barbs over illegal immigration
Race » Rep. Wimmer says Burbank is 'race baiting.'
By Matt Canham
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune
Updated:06/17/2010 07:16:40 PM MDT
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Washington » The tense debate over Utah's immigration laws just got personal.
Salt Lake City's police chief testified Thursday before Congress, accusing a group of state legislators of using "racist rhetoric" in an attempt to enact an "obvious xenophobic agenda."
One of those state lawmakers -- Rep. Carl Wimmer, R-Herriman -- responded later in the day by saying Chief Chris Burbank is "clearly race baiting."
"He is using race as a weapon in his arguments. He really needs to focus more on enforcing the law rather than implementing the law," Wimmer said.
This comes six months before the state Legislature will reconvene and take up what is expected to be a major immigration bill, at least partially based on the Arizona law that sparked a nationwide controversy. Arizona's law requires law enforcement to investigate the immigration status of anyone reasonably believed to be in the nation illegally, which Burbank argues leads directly to racial profiling.
Immigration is normally a federal issue and a civil, not criminal, violation. But states, frustrated by inaction on the federal level, are starting to come up with their own ways to temper the recent rise in undocumented immigration, largely by asking police to enforce federal laws.
Arizona's immigration enforcement has drawn the ire of President Barack Obama and leading Democrats in Washington, including those on the House Judiciary Committee, who invited Burbank to testify on racial profiling. Others participating in Thursday's hearing include a representative of the NAACP, a Sikh group, a Muslim organization and a few university professors.
Burbank focused his remarks on legislative attempts to require local police to round up illegal immigrants.
"Requiring local police agencies to enforce federal immigration laws is contrary to our mission, marginalizes significant segments of the population and ultimately harms effective community policing," he said. "We function best when we are a part of, not apart from, the community."
He argued that since the nation's founding, policy makers have used law enforcement to oppress minorities, whether African American slaves in the 1800s or Japanese Americans during World War II.
"We are still struggling to repair the mistrust, resentment and rage that many communities continue to feel," Burbank told the committee. He also said the debate over a new state immigration law has strained relationships with Salt Lake City's growing Latino community.
Burbank ripped state lawmakers, though he didn't use any names, for saying Latinos commit crime at higher rates than other groups or that undocumented immigrants are responsible for a large number of violent crimes.
"It is unconscionable that persons are attempting to misuse their elected office and law enforcement to advance an obviously xenophobic agenda," he wrote in his submitted remarks. "In a recent debate, a Utah state representative publicly stated that a lack of proficiency with the English language amounted to reasonable suspicion to stop and detain an individual. This clearly constitutes racial profiling."
Burbank clarified that Salt Lake's murder rate hit a historic low in 2009, with only four homicides. Also, the city has a policy against asking witnesses or victims of crime about their immigration status.
His criticisms of lawmakers stem from a televised debate he had with Wimmer on KSL in April. While tense, it was far less biting than his comments submitted to Congress.
When reached for comment Thursday, Wimmer said legislators would work with interested parties to develop a law cracking down on illegal immigration without resorting to racial profiling and whether Burbank likes it or not, he will enforce it.
"Illegal is a status, it is not a race. Chief Burbank doesn't seem to understand that," said Wimmer, who is working with Rep. Stephen Sandstrom, R-Orem, on the legislation. Wimmer and Sandstrom are prominent members of the influential Patrick Henry Caucus.
Sandstrom visited Arizona at the start of the month and expressed concern about the issue of racial profiling. He doesn't want to follow Arizona's "vague" standard of reasonable suspicion, instead he favors requiring officers to have probable cause to question someone about his or her immigration status.
"I want to make sure people realize this is not targeted at a certain group of people," Sandstrom said at the time. "Being Hispanic is not probable cause."
mcanham@sltrib.com
Maclovia Perez
801-833-2793
Coordinadora Red de Peruanos en Utah
E-mail:redperuenutah@gmail.com
http://redperuenutah.blogspot.com/
Corresponsal Red Democratica del Peru
