Sunday, October 01, 2006

What will Herndon Accomplish?

Herndon, Virginia's Town Council has decided to move forward with ICE's Section 287(g), a program which will train local police to apprehend suspects who may be undocumented immigrants. The provision, yet another political stunt to beguile citizens into thinking that something fruitful is being accomplished with the nation's immigration enforcement, has succeeded only in frightening Herndon's immigrant population, according to this article in today's Washington Post.

What will this move accomplish? Some of the undocumented residents who now reside in Herndon may move into other communities that are not so hostile toward immigration and ethnic diversity, but Herndon cannot turn back the clock, nor can their local police stop the demographic shift that has been taking place in the nation for the last 25 years. They can harass their Latino neighbors, they can frighten them and compel them to move on, but anyone who has been following the Herndon controversy knows that some of the residents there have been able to accomplish all of this without employing 287(g).

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