Magic City Migrants

On 30 December 2005, The Birmingham News reported on the concerns expressed by Jefferson County commissioners Larry Langford and Sheila Smoot over Sheriff Mike Hale's plans to record and log information on illegal immigrants in their county. Hale's plan, as it has been reported by The News, would have each of his deputies record information about illegal immigrants they meet in the course of their job and then enter that information into a database that could be shared with other law enforcement officials.

Langord and Smoot are concerned that the program will lead to racial profiling. It is also reported that Smoot has said the county needs to look at the long-term consequences of keeping tabs in illegal immigrants. Two other commissioners have also weighed in on the issue. Gary White says he supports Hale's program as long as it is used to track only those immigrants with criminal records. According to The News article, Bettye Fine Collins is supportive of Hale's efforts to identify illegal immigrants.

Illegal immigration is becoming a growing concern in Alabama, at least as indicated by press coverage. Whether that concern is based on the "rule of law" and who has the right to be in America or racism - or some undefined mixture of the two - is anyone's guess.

It seems appropriate and necessary that Jefferson County deputies report what they know about illegal immigrants in their county. And in fact it seems that the Jefferson County Sheriff, and therefore his deputies, are required by law to report what they know regarding illegal immigrants. In the oath of office they take, the specifically say they will uphold the Constitution of the United States and the State of Alabama.

While that oath does not make them enforcers of immigration law, it would seem to place an affirmative reponsibility on them to notify the proper authorities of evidence that someone is violating immigration law.

I do not support racial profiling - the stopping and questioning of a person by law enforcement for the sole reason that the person is in a targeted racial or ethnic group. However, if a person is stopped for a legitimate reason by the JeffCo sheriffs deputies, and the person is not in the country legally, I see no reason the JeffCo deputies should not report this information.

If racial profiling in this program does prove to be a problem, then the deputies should be dealt with appropriately, just as we should deal with illegal immigrants. The fear of one wrong should not lead us to overlook another.