POLITICS

Flynn seeks to reassure immigrant community

Bill Glauber

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn told a local Latino organization Saturday that his department will not change procedures in the wake of President Donald Trump's executive orders on immigration.

"The Milwaukee Police Department, as well as the police departments of all the major cities of the United States, do not enforce the status violations of immigration laws," Flynn told several hundred people gathered at the general assembly of Voces de la Frontera.

"It is our opinion, our strongly held belief that our responsibility is to protect the residents of our city," Flynn said. "To protect them, they must trust us, they must be willing to report crimes, they must be willing to be witnesses."

On Wednesday, Trump signed an executive order that seeks to toughen the federal response to undocumented immigrants. The order expands the definition of who is a criminal to be detained and targeted for deportation.

During an interview with local media, Flynn said he disagreed with Trump's directives.

"I think what they do is create a climate of fear in immigrant communities about what the role of their local police department is," Flynn said. "The role of the local police department is to protect them. That's our role. We're not here to terrify them or pull them out of their houses or pull them off their work sites to inquire as to whether or not they're legally in the United States."

"That's a federal responsibility," Flynn added. "Always has been. And I think it's certainly problematic if people are going to try to co-opt local jurisdictional responsibilities for some other set of priorities that will reduce our ability to make people safe."

Tucked in Trump's executive order is a provision to reach federal-state agreements to allow state and local law enforcement agencies to "perform the function of an immigration officer."

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Flynn said the law already allows for that under the 287 (G) Immigration and Nationality Act, which enables state and local law enforcement to enter into agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Flynn said the intent of the program was to "make it easier to do investigations of organized crime gangs or organized smuggling operations for undocumented illegal entries into the United States."

"Obviously, it would also be permissive for general enforcement," he said, adding he didn't think anyone was interested in using the program for that reason.

Flynn said he didn't know how practical it would be to train hundreds of thousands of police officers in the country for such enforcement.

"And, finally, it really is still for us inconsistent with our core mission which is to protect and serve the residents of our community," he said. "And you can't do that if you're terrifying them and trying to round them up."

On his Facebook page, Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. said he would enroll his office in the 287 (G) program.

In response to an inquiry from The Associated Press, Clarke said Friday: "President Trump made it clear with his executive order on enforcement of our immigration laws. No more catch and release of criminal illegal aliens. I will assign as many deputies to this initiative as I can. It is a public safety priority."

"I will not have a Kate Steinle-type incident happen in Milwaukee County," Clarke said, a reference to the 2015 murder of Steinle, 32, who was shot and killed in San Francisco. Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, an illegal immigrant from Mexico who was deported five times previously, was arrested and charged with the murder.

"I am obligated to protect people from criminal illegal aliens as I am from all criminal predators," Clarke said. "I cannot be more clear on this."