El Rinconcito de Aurora

I, as so many others, are very concerned about the repercussions that the Secure Communities Program (S-Com) has for tens, or possibly hundreds, of thousands of members of our communities, so I did the best I could in my limited capacity, to inform myself on it's provisions, methods and how these were being implemented, with special focus on whether or not the Bill's procedural dictates/provisions were being carried out in accordance and in compliance with it.

Again, in my limited capacity, I started hearing reports of people being summarily deported after being detained for minor offenses or infractions before they were convicted of any crime/s, we have been also hearing about how some of these persons were being coerced into signing guilty pleas to, allegedly, avoid being charged and convicted under more severe charges.

Having been very familiar with the language in the legislation pertaining to S-Com, specially with the text in House Report 111-157 - DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY APPROPRIATIONS BILL, 2010, I was very alarmed at what I saw as non-compliance and/or, violations in it's implementation, or both, I was shocked to find out that our Attorney General in California signed a contract with HS/ICE to allow municipalities to participate in the program.  

Most of us are familiar with the events that followed the disclosure of the agreement, specially AG J. Brown's position on whether of not it was compulsory or voluntary for Counties to join, his declining of San Francisco Sheriff Michael Hennessey's request to have SF opt-out of the program; this caused a firestorm of controversy, but I felt the conversation was lacking discussions on the text in the bill other than what was related to participation.

While many of us questioned Jerry brown on his signing of the contract, I wondered why also so many of us, including our National Community Organizations who have lawyers in their staff, such as MALDEF, LULAC, NCLR, etc., have not taken a closer look and actions, where and when warranted, on the issues that I bring up in the questions and arguments that I would raise in front of our Attorney General if he were to give me the opportunity to speak up in his presence.

Fully aware that the chances of that occurring are from slim to non existent, the need and desire to speak up are still there, for, given that in addition to what I see as body punches to our community via pre-existing irregularities in the implementation of S-Com, he has given us what amounts to a slap in the face with his going to Arizona to vacation
(In all fairness and full disclosure, it was mentioned by a friend of mine, that he has family in Arizona and probably that's the reason he chose to vacation there - maybe this is so, or maybe not, but to me, an explanation from his part was warranted, as would be also expected from anyone under the same circumstances.).

So, if Jerry Brown were to give me time and attention to what I have to say, here is what I'd tell him:

Mr. California Attorney General Jerry Brown, how many body punches and Arizona slaps-on-the-face are we supposed to take? 

...

Pages: 1· 2· 3