In a recent news story, The New York Times tells us that the
Trump administration is sending elite tactical Border Patrol teams (BORTRAC) to
sanctuary cities that “release dangerous criminal aliens to prey upon the
public.” [i] Sanctuary cities are targeted because local
officials have refused to provide
support to ICE in enforcing immigration policies that are perceived as
pushing undocumented people further into the shadows, making cities less safe
as immigrant become less likely to report crimes or cooperate with
investigations.
These BORTAC agents are accustomed to engaging in armed
confrontations with drug-smuggling suspects using armored vehicles. They act as
the SWAT team of the Border Patrol using such gear as stun grenades and
enhanced Special Forces-type training. The officers usually target individuals
who are known to be violent with extensive criminal records. Local officials have
voiced concerns about the increased militarizing of their communities that could
also have deadly consequences. The interventions also result in “collateral
arrests” involving innocent family members.
This terror campaign against sanctuary cities is broad in
its scope and includes large cities like Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Los
Angeles, Atlanta, Houston, Boston, New Orleans, Detroit and Newark, N.J. The
map[ii]
below, produced by The Center for Immigration Studies, shows the current
distribution of sanctuary counties (yellow), cities (red) and states (green)
throughout the U.S. Importantly, there
are many communities throughout the U.S. with substantial numbers of immigrants
that are not sanctuaries and thus excluded from this map.
Figure 1: Distribution of Sanctuary Cities, Counties and
States, 2020
 |
| Source: Center for Immigration Studies, February 2020. |
Interestingly, it is no coincidence that the BORTRAC agents
are being deployed from February through
May of this year – the same period of time that the 2020 Census is being
conducted. Previously, the Trump
administration also worked feverishly to include a citizenship question in the
2020 Census questionnaire which was rejected by the courts due to its potential
to discourage response rates of the nation’s immigrant population. Similarly,
the deployment of BORTRAC agents is designed to create fear and anxiety among
immigrants in sanctuary cities that is likely to discourage participation in
the 2020 Census.
Why does this
matter? Because access to millions of
federal dollars by cities throughout the nation are jeopardized by a Census
under-count – funds that are used to support schools, hospitals, roads and
highways, and other infrastructure needs. The irony is that a Census under-count
will impact not just sanctuary cities, but many communities with substantial
immigrant populations that are not sanctuaries. For example, Dallas County is not included in
the list of sanctuary counties, but it is estimated that $40 million in federal
funds will be lost for every 1 percent drop in the Census response rate. [i]
To justify this reign of terror, the Trump administration
explains that the elite agents will assist the targeted communities in handling
“dangerous criminal illegal aliens” that are being protected by sanctuary
cities. The facts about immigrant crime, however, have established over
numerous studies that immigrants do not increase local crime rates, are less
likely to cause crime and less likely to be incarcerated than their native-born
peers – important facts that were included in a recent review by The Cato
Institute regarding immigrant crime rates in the U.S. and the State of Texas. [ii] In their in-depth analysis of data from the
Texas Department of Public Safety, Institute investigators analyzed the arrests
and convictions for the year 2015 to determine the extent to which different
crimes were conducted by illegal immigrants, legal immigrants and the native
born. The conclusion from their analysis,
quoted below, provides concrete evidence that the Trump narrative about
“dangerous criminal aliens” is false and misguided:
“The homicide conviction rate for illegal
immigrants was 16 percent below that of native-born Americans in Texas in 2015.
The conviction rates for illegal immigrants were 7.9 percent and 77 percent
below that for native-born Americans for sex crimes and larceny, respectively. For all criminal convictions in Texas in
2015, illegal immigrants had a criminal conviction rate 50 percent below that
of native-born Americans. Legal
immigrants had a criminal conviction rate 66 percent below that of native-born
Americans.” (p.5)
Crime, therefore, is merely a pretext for
justifying the deployment of BORTRAC agents in sanctuary communities – a pretentious
show of force whose only purpose is to discourage participation of immigrants
in the 2020 Census and enhance the political positioning of the Republican
party.
Also lost in the campaign to target
sanctuary cities are the substantial contributions made by immigrants, both legal and undocumented, to the U.S.
economy, the defense of our nation in times of war, the many patents for
inventions at U.S. academic institutions, keeping the Social Security system solvent,
and the numerous jobs created by entrepreneurs. [iii]
The Trump administration and the GOP have
demonstrated an uncanny ability of fortifying their political power by
implementing draconian policies that punish immigrant families and the public
entities that value and support immigrants. I am hopeful, nonetheless, that the
supportive network of sanctuary cities, counties and states will remain
steadfast in their support and maintain careful vigilance over the newly
deployed tactical agents to discourage the use of aggressive or violent
behavior towards immigrant residents. Non-sanctuary cities should be equally
concerned about the potential loss of federal dollars in their communities as
well since the deployment of BORTRAC agents will be communicated by news media
throughout the nation.
In the meantime, the Census Bureau will be
doubly challenged to ensure an accurate count in the 2020 Census as Trump’s
elite forces are deployed in the sanctuary cities. To minimize potential
confrontations with ICE and Trump’s elite forces, perhaps immigrants should be
strongly encouraged to complete the online version of the Census questionnaire
on their smart phones, home computers or other devices. Trump should not be
handed a victory by allowing his elite forces to suppress Census participation,
depriving communities of important federal funds, and shaping the balance of
political representation.
U.S. residents should realize that when
immigrants lose, we all lose.
Reference Notes
[i] Dallas
County, Texas (2018). Request for Proposal for 2020 Census Participation
Initiative for Dallas County, Page 21.
[ii] Nowrasteh,
A. (2018). Criminal immigrants in
Texas: Illegal immigrant conviction and
arrest rates for homicide, sex crimes, larceny, and other crimes. Immigration
Research and Policy Brief No. 4, The Cato Institute. Accessed at https://www.cato.org/publications/immigration-research-policy-brief/criminal-immigrants-texas-illegal-immigrant
[iii] Rincón,
E. T. (2017). Sanctuary city politics:
Wolves in sheep’s clothing.
TribTalk – Perspectives on Texas. A Publication of the Texas Tribune. Accessed at https://www.tribtalk.org/2017/02/13/sanctuary-city-politics-wolves-in-sheeps-clothing/
[i]
Dickerson, C. and Kanno-Youngs, Z. (2020).
Border Patrol will deploy elite tactical agents to sanctuary cities. The
New York Times, accessed at https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/14/us/Border-Patrol-ICE-Sanctuary-Cities.html
[ii]
Griffin, B. and Vaughan, J.S. (2020). Center for Immigration Studies, accessed
at https://cis.org/Map-Sanctuary-Cities-Counties-and-States
