Norm Coleman's immigration bill: whose interests is he representing?

Instead of working on issues that matter to the people of Minnesota, Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) is hard at work on issues important to his conservative base -- in this case, immigration. Norm will introduce legislation that will in effect force cities to make their police departments arms of the INS. Right now cities can pass laws that prevent their police from asking minorities about their immigration status. Many large city mayors want good relations with immigrant communities and are concerned about immigrants cooperating with police in cases of non-immigration crimes. But not Norm.

Coleman, a Republican, said on Friday that he will introduce legislation that would bar the practice of several cities, including Minneapolis, of telling police not to ask about immigration status.

Coleman said this week's arrest of six Muslim men on the East Coast showed the need for the change. He cited unconfirmed media reports that the suspects had been stopped for several traffic violations without being asked about their immigration status. Doing so could have detected the plot sooner, he said.

"The recent capture of the alleged terrorists who plotted to attack Fort Dix raises serious concerns about 'sanctuary cities' that prohibit local law enforcement officials from asking suspects they apprehend about their immigration status, or notifying federal authorities," Coleman said in a prepared statement.
(MPR)

First off, Norm fails to mention that the FBI informants egged on the Fort Dix Six and that this could be a legitimate case of entrapment. John Stewart said "they want to attack the place where they keep all the weapons and the people who understand how to use them?" Let's face it, the Fort Dix Six were not the sharpest spoons in the drawer.

He railed against the United States, helped scout military installations for attack, offered to introduce his comrades to an arms dealer, and gave them a list of weapons he could procure, including machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

These were not the actions of a terrorist, but of a paid FBI informant who helped bring down six Muslim men accused of plotting to kill U.S. soldiers at New Jersey’s Fort Dix.

Those actions have raised questions of whether the government crossed the line and pushed the six men down a path they would not have otherwise followed.

It is an argument - entrapment - that has been made in other terrorism cases, and one that has failed miserably in this post-Sept. 11 era.

One defense attorney on the case, Troy Archie, said that no decision has been made on whether to argue entrapment, but based on the FBI’s own account, “the guys sort of led them on.”
(AP)

Clearly, Norm Coleman has also forgotten what its like to be mayor of a major American city. Minneapolis and Saint Paul (Norm was once the DFL Mayor of St. Paul) both want recent immigrant communities cooperating with the police. If a recent immigrant was a witness to a crime and knew they'd be hassled about their or a relatives immigration status, why would they cooperate? Not to mention if criminals knew illegal immigrants wouldn't go to the police to report crimes, crimes against immigrant communities would increase.

“The role of local law enforcement is first and foremost to protect public safety, and public safety is best served when people with the greatest need trust and work with their police,” Rybak and Dolan’s letter said. “Without trust in local law enforcement, people are needlessly trapped in dangerous situations. If there are families afraid of going to the police for fear of arrest, that threatens all of our civil liberties and makes our neighborhoods less safe.”

“Minneapolis has decided that immigration status should not inhibit a person’s ability to report serious crime,” Rybak added. “Violating this trust hurts our police officers’ ability to create relationships and build networks in our community, which are our first line of defense in preventing and suppressing serious crimes such as domestic abuse, narcotics and terrorism.”
(Mpls. Mayor Rybak, Chief Dolan Press Release)

O yea ... and another thing Norm has forgotten ... the big city problems with racial profiling. It happens enough already, why make it even worse? Maybe now that Norm is a Republican he's less concerned about minorities getting pulled over because of the color of their skin. Maybe he's more concerned about keeping his base happy? How is his new bill in remotely moderate?

Whose interests is Norm representing with this legislation?