Friday, October 2, 2009

Say no to Immigration Enforcement here in Framingham

In a stunning revelation here in Framingham, home to as many as 15 k human beings that are here illegally, our own Chief Carl has said, It doesn't benefit the Police Department to engage in deportation and immigration enforcement", we're done. I told them to come pick up their computers".

The reasoning behind the chiefs decision is that it costs the Town to much money to dedicate two officers to the program called 287g and that it creates more victims of unreported crimes.

While I'm not a fan of the drug laws, police coruption, police details, the Quinn Bill, etc, etc, I am in favor of public safety and those who honestly want to make our environment a better place to live. Chief Carl has a tuff row to hoe and while not aalways agreeing with him, nor would he even care, I do think the man is a good leader and takes his job very seriousley, I even admire him for his work.

That being said.... I can't imagine why he's chosen to opt out of a program that would help US live in more peaceful surroundings. When I look at many of the police logs and headline news, it is a fact that many of the minor and major crimes committed by human beings here in Framingham that are here illegally. AND... if you notice, many have extensive criminal backgrounds.. AND .. when busted for the 2nd, 3rd and 10th time... they continue, even after court proceedings, get out on bail, never show up for court and continue on their merry ways of criminal behavior. AND.. I'm not talking about getting caught with a joint... so many have criminal histories, mental health problems and some have left their countries to avoid prosecution.

Does anyone else have trouble with his deception? Did he run this by the BOS? Is it really the costs? And if so... how much money do they spend on investigating, arresting and prosecuting a drug dealer or bank robber?

38 Comments:

At October 2, 2009 at 2:52 PM , Blogger Dylan said...

You are starting to sound like the Rizzos here Jim, be careful how you project this. But I have to say I agree with you about questioning this decision. Who approved this or does the Chief have the authority to do that themselve.

 
At October 2, 2009 at 3:00 PM , Blogger Unknown said...

I can hear the twins now. This will give them fodder for 20 more shows. If there really are 15,000 illegal aliens in Framingham, then that means that more than 95% are honest, hard working citizens. There can’t be more than 750 of them committing crimes or we would be afraid to walk on the streets. Although I agree with questioning this decision, I don’t agree with your statements about all the illegals being bad. I hope you were speaking off the cuff and that you are not really thinking like those two idiots.

 
At October 2, 2009 at 3:04 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

The Rizzolis have been saying this for years and you all say they are bigots. Well now the problem is here to stay so lets see how many of you change your tune now.

 
At October 2, 2009 at 3:19 PM , Blogger Frustrated in Framingham said...

How do neighboring towns feel about Framingham’s decision to allow illegals to live here with no threat of being turned in to immigration? I am sure those committing crimes are not just committing them in Framingham, it must also be impacting neighboring towns. Would be interested what their take on this decision is. Jim, and insite on that?

 
At October 2, 2009 at 3:42 PM , Blogger Framingham resident said...

Pam must be all for this. Saves her from having to give them the vote. If they are not going to be prosecuted for being illegal, they have nothing to worry about so why bother voting.

 
At October 2, 2009 at 3:59 PM , Blogger 50 stud said...

Hope you all like nice spicy Brazilian food. If we are publicly saying we are not going to look for them or prosecute them for being illegal, then we should expect lots and lots more of them to move here. FRAMINGHAM – SAFE HAVEN FOR ALL ILLEGAL ALIENS IN MA. The new town banner.

 
At October 2, 2009 at 4:17 PM , Blogger Friend said...

Bigotry is alive and well in Framingham. What a shame. Can’t wait to see the JR’s show on this.

 
At October 2, 2009 at 4:18 PM , Blogger Rich said...

Unbelievable that this type of decision is made without any input from Town Residents. My question is where are they going to spend the money they are saving by dumping this program?

 
At October 2, 2009 at 4:23 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

“It doesn’t benefit the police department…” am I reading that right? I thought the purpose of the police department was to protect and serve the residents of Framingham, not to benefit themselves. Guess I had that wrong.

 
At October 2, 2009 at 4:35 PM , Blogger SoxFan said...

Framingham at its best. Throw up our hands in defeat because it is a tough nut to crack. Nice message we are sending to our kids here. If it is tough, and if it is expensive, then it is not worth doing. Could have at least spun this differently and said we have decided that there are better ways to spend our money than to pursue illegal immigrants who are not breaking the law in any other way. We will continue to arrest and prosecute those who violate other laws, using money that previously was being spent tracking down those who have committed no crime other than coming to this country with out a green card. I think that is the message I will give my kids, not the one reported here.

 
At October 2, 2009 at 4:50 PM , Blogger J. Price said...

We need to hear the Chief’s explanation for this before we run to judgment. Lets give him the chance to explain all the parts of this decision.

 
At October 2, 2009 at 4:57 PM , Blogger Unknown said...

Are other towns also deciding not to do this or do we look like idiots again because we don’t want to play by the rules everyone else plays by? In other words, is this happening in other communities or is it just Framingham cops who are lazy and uninterested in the illegal immigrant situation?

 
At October 2, 2009 at 4:58 PM , Blogger Help said...

What do the selectmen think about this decision? Did they have any input? And was the amount for this particular program included in the warrant for town meeting? If it was, and the money was approved, then I believe that money goes back to the general fund, not to the police department budget. Correct me if I am wrong here Jim. Looking forward to seeing more about this on Monday.

 
At October 2, 2009 at 5:07 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

We need to close our borders and we need to do that now.

 
At October 2, 2009 at 5:24 PM , Blogger Jim Pillsbury said...

The piece in paper says that the Barnstable Sheriff is also pulling the plug on the program.. and if you've ever been around Hyannis.. not unlike Framingham, believe me.

The spin seemed to be an economic thing for the Chief... two dedicated officers have to appear in court, etc, etc. Along with the concerns he has about un reported crime committed on illegal immigrants.

Unlike drug investigations where law enforcement has a financial interest in busting anyone they can.. in return, they get a slice of the precedes with civil forfeiture, there seems to be no real interest in deporting convicted illegal immigrants who continue to commit crimes over and over again.

That's not to say... ALL illegal immigrants are criminals... most are not and for my money, if they are here and not part of the problem... pay taxes like I do, obey the laws.... so be it.

This program is all about a data base and a few computers that law enforcement can use to determine status.

Please don't lump me in with the twins... please. I'm not, nor have I've been that rabid about illegal immigration... it's a federal thing to begin with. All I question is how the chief arrived at this point and who in the Town has agreed with him. The crime stats speak volumes about the subject... but a money issue?

I would hope we could learn more about this in the coming days.

 
At October 2, 2009 at 5:27 PM , Blogger Brian V. said...

Quoted directly rom the actual regulation: The cross-designation between ICE and state and local patrol officers, detectives, investigators and correctional officers working in conjunction with ICE allows these local and state officers: necessary resources and latitude to pursue investigations relating to violent crimes, human smuggling, gang/organized crime activity, sexual-related offenses, narcotics smuggling and money laundering; and increased resources and support in more remote geographical locations.

Sounds to me like we are giving up significantly more than computers here. Jim, your thoughts on this?

 
At October 2, 2009 at 5:49 PM , Blogger Jim Pillsbury said...

Nice work Brian.. . Thanks

Holy mackerel ... much more than I had got from the piece in the paper.

So.. without the ICE agreement... doesn't law enforcement still do the same job as before... only without the use of a data base?

Now I really wonder what the Chief's reasons are. "Necessary resources" would mean money to me.

I'll fire off a question to the Town Manager and see where it goes.

 
At October 2, 2009 at 8:26 PM , Blogger Unknown said...

We need to know more about what it is we are actually giving up here and about what this ICE law thing actually is. Jim, can you do some research on this for us and let us know what you find out? Much appreciate all you do here.

 
At October 5, 2009 at 10:25 AM , Blogger Help said...

ANy updates on this Jim? Just curious if you have found out any additional information

 
At October 5, 2009 at 12:23 PM , Blogger Junior said...

I don’t understand what this is all about. Can anyone give a synopsis of what we are talking about here? How many other Towns in the state are participating in this project and what do we actually lose by not participating. And I would be interested in the same question that another blogger raised here about the budget. Did we budget money for this program to the Police Department and if we did what happens to that money now?

 
At October 6, 2009 at 8:47 AM , Blogger Old Blogger said...

Have been hoping to see more detail here myself. If that is not something you can give us just let us know so we stop hounding you about it. Have gotten in the habit of looking here for explanations

 
At October 6, 2009 at 9:58 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is a waste of time to be talking about. Are you all clueless about what is happening around you to your neighbors in town? Any idea how many kids are cold and hungry at night because there is not enough money to turn the heat up and to feed them enough to fill them up, how many marriages are falling apart over financial issues? I am not talking about the homeless and the disenfranchised, but about those living on way less than they have in the past and struggling every day to keep it together. People have gotten use to the fact that things are bad and lost sight of how bad it is for some of us. My wife went to work every morning for a year while I stayed home. She brought home a paycheck while I collected unemployment, and she did it without ever complaining. She wiped out her own savings without ever complaining to me. Then the unemployment ran out, and she continued to go to work and tried to cut even more expenses so we could survive, and she still never complained. She helped our son who was out of work with groceries when she could for his family, she made sure the grandchildren had toys on the beach since there were no expensive vacations this year. All of this without ever once complaining. She was up nights worried about money, but I did not know that. She developed high blood pressure from the stress, but she never mentioned it to me. She worried about me being stressed because I could not find work, and about me eating well and taking care of myself, all of this without ever complaining about the burden of supporting our family on her own. She went to work 8 weeks ago as she did every single morning with a smile on her face as I waved good-bye with a cup of coffee in one hand and my morning paper in the other, still in my bathrobe. She had a heart attack and died at work 4 hours later. Never once did she tell me she did not feel well, or that the stress was too much for her, or that she was worried. She was always lifting my spirits up. Who was lifting hers? And given the fact that I am not alone in being in a situation where the burden for our family falls all on the wife, do you really think we have time to worry about something as trivial as this? If you do, then you are living in a world much different than mine. Lets get back to focusing on what is important and this is certainly not high on my list of priorities.

 
At October 6, 2009 at 12:08 PM , Blogger Brian V. said...

Well that last comment sure puts things in a different perspective. My condolences to you sir, and my thanks for a wake up call. Guess this immigration stuff is not as important as so many other things we are facing. Jim, what do you know about unemployment benefits getting extended, or welfare option for those whose benefits have run out, or programs to feed hungry kids. There is always Joe Kennedy for oil at a discounted rate, but what about people who heat with gas, or even wood stoves or pellet stoves. You still have to buy wood or pellets. Are there programs getting geared up to help people in need get through the winter? What about foreclosure help, or food panties. Are they stocked up to meet the greater need? And how about neighbor helping neighbor, that is what got many through the depression, what happened to that help mechanism? Thoughts on this Jim?

 
At October 6, 2009 at 1:39 PM , Blogger Frank S. said...

This is not a physch blog for people in emotional hell. This is a political blog about what is happening in politics. Sorry about your loss, but this in not the place for that. Get some help, there is plenty out there. This blog is for us to know what is happening politically and what we can do about it. And like it or not, this immigration stuff is important and we need to do something about it. It cost our government money that could be going to people like anonymous here who really deserve government assistance.

 
At October 6, 2009 at 2:16 PM , Blogger 6th Middlesex constituent said...

I think this is a very confusing issue and none of us should be making statements about it unless we understand the whole picture. Jim, can you give us a better overall understanding of exactly what this is about?

 
At October 7, 2009 at 1:32 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Have not seen anything from you here since Friday Jim. For such a hot topic, you don’t seem to have much interest in keeping up with it. This is not really a blog anymore where there is interaction between the blog host and the people who visit. This is more like a web site where you leave comments that sometimes get responded to and sometimes don’t. That’s fine, but don’t call it a blog if that is not what you are going to do. Just make this a regular old web site.

 
At October 7, 2009 at 5:14 PM , Blogger B. Murray said...

I have not seen any more about this anywhere. Seems that this whole thing just died down no interest or whatever. Did the Rizzoli brothers even say anything about this on their show? I refuse to watch that show but I am curious about whether they jumped on this bandwagon. Maybe there are no new blurbs here because there is nothing else to say about this. I don’t know what the deal is but it does seem to be a much slower pace on this blog the it was orignally.

 
At October 8, 2009 at 9:52 AM , Blogger Jim Pillsbury said...

Geeez.... I'm almost in tears.... I'm very sorry to hear about your plight sir. You are not alone and what words I could write, seem to be not enough.

 
At October 8, 2009 at 10:00 AM , Blogger Jim Pillsbury said...

I have written to Mr. Suso for some explanation of the Chief's decision. I've not heard a thing yet.

The twins did talk about the 287(g) program, and it's all bad.

From the 287(g) website comes paragraph after paragraph of what the law was intended to do.... way more than I can write here.

My impression is that the law was intend to make information available to the Chief and the prison system, to check to see if they had any human beings in their custody that were here illegally and who may have been already labeled as violent offenders.

I must be missing the point....
Why not have access to the system? Does it really alienate anyone here illegally?

Still looking for answers...

 
At October 8, 2009 at 10:04 AM , Blogger Jim Pillsbury said...

From what I have read, there is a move to extend benefits for those who are running out this month and the next few months, for those States who have high unemployment rates. Mass is not quite there yet... but it's my guess, Octobers numbers will be much worse than has been predicted.

 
At October 8, 2009 at 10:44 AM , Blogger Jim Pillsbury said...

From Mr. Suso:

This decision was fundamentally that of Chief Carl; however, the Chief did fully discuss this with me and I support this decision for the reasons which have been covered in the press and at the recent Board of Selectmen’s meeting. This has also been discussed with the Board of Selectmen, as noted.

Well... that's the last word on this subject it appears, as it's not up to the masses what the Chief does or dosen't do.

 
At October 8, 2009 at 10:57 AM , Blogger Unknown said...

Thanks for the follow up here Pillsbury. Guess there is nothing we can do about this at this point. Just seems like a bad decision to me on the part of the town but what do I know.

 
At October 8, 2009 at 3:19 PM , Blogger Unknown said...

Nice follow up. Sometimes it does take you a while to get back to us but at least when you do it is with worthwhile information. Thanks for the effort you put in here.

 
At October 9, 2009 at 1:48 AM , Anonymous Know What You're Talking About said...

It is up to ICE to enforce immigration policies. 287(g) just essentially pawned that enforcement off on local police at a cost to those local budgets for the cost of training and enforcement. How does that make sense? Everyone here needs to better understand how illegal immigration enforcement works. And don't use Arpaio in Arizona as your model. The "champion" of 287(g) cost his community about $40M in lawsuits because of his application of the code.

 
At October 9, 2009 at 8:33 AM , Blogger Jim Pillsbury said...

OK.. Know.. let's hear it.

I watched the interview yesterday with Arpio. He seems to be just like many of the hard ass bully sheriffs out there trying to obey the law. Is he wrong with his assertions and results? Does he not understand the 287 law? Is he violating everyone's civil rights?

How much money and time did Framingham put into this to begin with? Has overall crime risen in Town because of the two dedicated officers to 287(g)

Pawns off the expenses to local's for training and enforcement. Who pays for SWAT training? Gang and organized crime unit training?

Perhaps you would share with us what you know.. so I and our readers would be better informed.
And thanks for posting. I'm all ears.

 
At October 9, 2009 at 10:21 AM , Blogger Dylan said...

Know what you are talking about, if you really do, then explain it to us. You sound like you are knowledgable on this subject, then educate us. I can't tell if you are for Framingham's decision or against it. How about being more informative?

 
At October 11, 2009 at 5:43 PM , Blogger Unknown said...

An undocumented woman cleaning toilets is providing more of value to our society than all the rapacious Wall Street bank presidents combined. I'd rather we placed our law enforcement energies on significant targets rather than on the poor and hard working. Framingham could use more good Samaritans and fewer bigots.

 
At April 14, 2011 at 9:33 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Has anyone figured out what sending several million illegal immigrants home has done to real estate prices?

Ever hear of the relationship between price, supply and demand? Supply up, price down. demand down, price down... a double hit. No wonder we're hurting. All those hard working illegal immigrants have gone home...

 

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