New Romney Policy: Arrest Illegal Immigrants
Just days after the Boston Globe reported that Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has been hiring illegal immigrants to work on his front lawn for the past decade, Romney's administration announced that he's completed negotiations with the federal government for a new policy that's extra-tough on illegals — and just in time for his successor to cancel the whole thing.
The Globe reports that the State Police will be authorized to arrest people they believe to be illegal immigrants, a departure from previous practices under which immigration status alone would not be a cause for arrest. The current version of the plan, however, is very limited. The authority will initially be given to only a few dozen troopers who undergo over four weeks of special training, and will likely be members of special task forces for fighting street gangs.
And even that limited scope might not actually occur. Dem Gov.-Elect Deval Patrick opposed such a move during his campaign, and could potentially rescind the policy before it has any effect. The Globe quoted a spokesman for Dem Gov.-Elect Deval Patrick, dismissing the new policy and Romney's motivations: "This is another last-minute move by Governor Romney that is more about his presidential campaign than about sound public policy for the people of Massachusetts."
I live in Massachusetts, and consider myself a liberal. But my attitude is: if we can take members of street gangs off the streets by arresting them for being illegal immigrants, I'm all for it. And with Deval coming in, the policy is clearly not going to go any farther than that.
December 4, 2006 10:34 AM | Reply | Permalink
As I recently suggested to some of our local pols here in Massachusetts -
Congress could make being undocumented a federal felony. They have not.
So, if the "Staties" (our affectionate nickname for the state troopers) are going to enforce federal immigration regulations, why stop there?
Maybe they can enforce IRS rules. "I'm sorry, you can't deduct that trip. You are under arrest."
Perhaps federal labor law is ripe for state help. "You didn't give your workers the 15 minute break mandated by the US Congress!?!?! You need to come with me."
The big question is where does it stop?
December 4, 2006 10:53 AM | Reply | Permalink
As another Mass. liberal, I wanted to toss in my 2 cents. I'd love to see the street gangs stopped, but I worry about giving this big a hammer to the state police.
All they have to do is believe that someone is an illegal alien. What's that based on? Accent? Skin tone? Not having a local license in hand? I just see it as too anti-immigrant.
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Al Toid
December 4, 2006 11:02 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think the burning question is, who's going to mow Mitt's lawn once the State Police get done deporting his gardeners?
http://electioncentral.tpmcafe.com/blog/ohiomeister/2006/dec/03/romney_asks_state_troopers_to_arrest_his_gardeners
December 4, 2006 11:34 AM | Reply | Permalink
I also live in Massachusetts, and it is my impression that the state police pretty much just patrols highways for traffic violations. In other words, they do little if anything in regards matters like street gangs. Those matters are left to local police.
It's fairly obvious that this announcement by the Romney administration came in response to his embarrassment at having been found out hiring a firm that, in turn, hired illegal aliens. What this will do, if implemented, is aggravate racial profiling of drivers. "Driving while hispanic" will displace "driving while black."
December 4, 2006 12:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Greg Roach wrote:
So, if the "Staties" (our affectionate nickname for the state troopers)...
Clueless Anonymous wrote:
...if we can take members of street gangs off the streets by arresting them for being illegal immigrants, I'm all for it.
Raj wrote:
...my impression [is] that the state police pretty much just patrols highways for traffic violations.
I've lived in Massachusetts for over 20 years and will be moving back in a few months. I have never heard anyone refer to state troopers as "Staties". And I do know a few things that state police does other than traffic patrol, although it certainly occupies the majority of many troopers' time.
But the remark about the connection between street gangs and illegal immigrants is gratuitous xenophobic nonsense. Never mind that the "gangs" are not necessarily composed of immigrants, although a particular gang may be organized by immigrants from a specific location or those who speak a specific language. But their immigration status has little to do with gang membership--what binds them is either similar cultural norms or social exclusion by other local cultures.
It is truly idiotic to suggest that gangs check green card upon initiation, giving choice membership to illegals. But that is essentially the assumption behind the claim that ties gangs to illegal immigrants.
December 4, 2006 1:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
On a different note, it would be really great for Mass to impeach Romney, who repeatedly demonstrated that his commitments lie outside the state. He moved to Mass from Michigan, where his father was governor at one point. He then moved to Utah, only to return when prodded to run for governor. So Romney is the poster-child for a carpetbagger politician.
But worse yet, his actions in the past year have directly attacked the very state that he is supposed to promote and defend. One could argue, legally, that Romney has damaged the economic position of Mass residents and companies. It's not quite state equivalent of federal treason, but his actions have been directly in violation of his oath of office.
I say, don't wait for turnover and embarrass the shit out of the bastard by impeaching him.
December 4, 2006 1:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
I looked at the original Globe article, and am now hopelessly confused. First, Ferhnstrom (Romney's spokesman) says that the troopers who have this power will be members of special units detailed to combat street gangs. (Does Massachusetts actually have State Police that do this?) Then, he gives the example of stopping somebody for a broken tail light and arresting them if they're an illegal immigrant. (If we have State Police that combat street gangs, what are they doing stopping people for driving with a broken tail light?)
I now agree that this looks like a really bad idea.
December 4, 2006 3:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Raj,
Well if the MA State Police is merely a highway patrol, then the movies Mystic River and The Departed are 180 degrees out of phase with reality. Both movies involve State Police detectives (homicide investigators in MR, an organized crime task force in TD).
This isn't a bad idea if the cops can call in or check a database to confirm the citizenship and/or visa holdiing status of anyone they stop.
December 4, 2006 4:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is all just so lame. Romney never hired any illegal immigrants, he hired a landscaping company to mow his lawn.
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But, for a decade, the governor has used a landscaping company that relies heavily on workers like these, illegal Guatemalan immigrants, to maintain the grounds surrounding his pink Colonial house on Marsh Street in Belmont.
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How would he know? If you are going with this standard anyone who has ever bought anything or any service that illegals provided unknowingly "hired" them. That's probably about 98% of the population.
December 4, 2006 5:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
This example is perhaps the most offensive part of the whole thing. The whole "broken tail light" thing is code for "any pretext for stopping someone without any real reason for doing so." Thus, racial profiling is given free rein. Hispanic with a broken tail light? Suspected illegal immigrant gang member who is getting pulled over and deported. Not a good mentality to foster in our State Police.
December 4, 2006 5:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good point. The State Police actually made headlines here in MA over the weekend for arresting a suspected mob boss in the Italian section of Boston.
From the Boston Globe:
More than 10,000 wiretapped phone calls of a dozen bookmakers made during a four-month investigation in 2001 implicated Carmen "The Big Cheese" DiNunzio as heading Greater Boston's illegal gaming organization, according to an official familiar with the investigation that led to the alleged underboss's arrest in the North End on Friday.
State Police have transcripts of taped conversations among bookmakers who turned to DiNunzio to solve betting turf wars, the official said.
"Whenever there were disputes among bookmakers, they turned to Carmen to solve the problem," the official said. "All of these different groups answered to him."
DiNunzio, who allegedly ran a betting office out of Revere, is caught on the wiretaps making appointments for meetings to bring warring factions together and smooth disputes, the official said, but mentions nothing that implicates him directly.
"He uses the phone to set up meetings, but he doesn't talk on the phone," the official said. "He knows better than that."
DiNunzio , 49, was arrested on extortion and illegal gambling charges at about 5:15 p.m. Friday as he came out of The Gemini Club , a new social club near the corner of Lynn and Cooper streets in the North End. He was being held yesterday on $250,000 bail at the State Police barracks in Danvers and is scheduled to be arraigned in Salem Superior Court tomorrow . He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
The charges against DiNunzio stem from a 2001 investigation during which officials wiretapped nearly a dozen bookmakers between September and December. DiNunzio was promoted to second in command of the local branch of La Cosa Nostra around 2002 after winning the favor of New England's godfather, Luigi "Baby Shanks" Manocchio.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/12/03/bookmakers_phones_tapped_in_probe?mode=PF
December 4, 2006 5:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
I can see how that sounds like a bad joke, but you guys must not have read the Globe article last week reporting that Mitt had illegal aliens working for him as gardeners. That's probably why he announced this plan this week. That's all I was saying.
December 4, 2006 5:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
If you are going to use the State Police to deport illegal immigrants, you should be held to a higher standard for who you employ to mow your lawn. If Romney ever asked his gardeners, he could have found out.
So he has a personal "Don't ask, don't tell" policy, but for the MA State Police, it's ask and deport, which will happen either randomly or via racial profiling but is a totally phony symbolic measure that won't make a dent in illegal immigration, rather than doing something to actually address the issue, such as punishing employers or coming up with a federal solution like the McCain-Kennedy bill.
December 4, 2006 5:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
I have never heard anyone refer to state troopers as "Staties".
Your 20 year tenure was obviously not spent in the western half of the state. Or perhaps that term is only germaine here in the northwest corner. Things west of Worcester are just a wee bit different.
Did you know Romney couldn't name the western-most county of the commonwealth when quizzed during the campaign? That didn't keep most of our Boston-burb bretheren from voting for him.
December 4, 2006 7:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
If you are going to use the State Police to deport illegal immigrants, you should be held to a higher standard for who you employ to mow your lawn.
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It's not a higher standard, it's an impossible standard
December 5, 2006 2:25 PM | Reply | Permalink