LUCA Staff
Tony Renteria
I serve as Chairman of Hispanic organizations Poder Latino and LUCA and serve on the Board of Directors of Hispanic 100, I felt it necessary to send letters to U.S. Senators Raphael Warnock (Georgia) and Mark Kelly (Arizona) urging them to abandon their campaign for open borders which is supported by left wing groups such as Just Futures Law, Community Justice Exchange, and Mijente whose views are extremely liberal and anti-American in my view.
In a nutshell, illegal immigrants are monitored through SmartLINK mobile monitoring, and other technology, while they await their court hearings and ICE owns the data and complies with all federal laws.
The Just Futures Law seeks to “disrupt and dismantle our deportation and mass incarceration systems” and “ends local involvement in immigration enforcement and the laws of prosecuting border entry.” The Community Justice Exchange brags that they are “fighting to end the deportation and detention system…ending the surveillance of immigrant communities, and supporting the right to migrate.” Mijente claims ICE funding is “dumping, dropping, flushing all this money down the toilet.”
Those three organizations actions, if the United States were to lend any credence to them would create even further, irreparable damage to our borders and our country as a whole.
I made it a point to visit one of the ISAP facilities in Orange County, California with a couple of Board Members from the Hispanic 100, and what we witnessed was a staff of trained, professional people who were attentive and courteous to the illegal immigrants that they were charged with tracking. There was in no way anything inhumane or even remotely appearing to be a violation of any civil rights. What I learned about this program is that every individual is treated with the utmost respect, they are given very reasonable and simple instructions and they are given the tools to not only report in to the appropriate authorities until their immigration hearing, but also, these same tools, serve as a protection to them as it can help to prevent abuse and trafficking. Every illegal immigrant is accounted for, as far as where they are and by reporting in, those who are victims of trafficking or other abuse have the opportunity to report it in a private meeting with their advocates at the facilities. The claim that these immigrants were being treated inhumanely is laughable. We spoke to some immigrants that were there and they appreciated the program and were very understanding of the need for it and the ease of its use.
The bottom line is we have to protect our borders, Immigration alternatives preserve the law. The U.S. has common sense rules and laws that benefit current citizens as well as future U.S. citizens. When too many people overwhelm the system, it can break down and the most vulnerable can fall through the cracks as we are witnessing today. ICE has a special process – the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP) – that helps non-violent, law-abiding immigrants seeking a home in America. If they are selected and follow the rules, they are able to live in a community and establish themselves while they wait for an immigration judge to rule. This is a humane alternative to detention.
ISAP is an alternative to detention that works.
- Before ISAP, only 11% complied with final orders issued by Immigration Judges
- Those in ISAP have a + 95% compliance rate with release and reporting conditions
- Participants work with Case Managers to receive wraparound stabilization services and are treated with dignity, fairness and respect
- ISAP is more cost-effective than detention
When I heard about this program at first I did not understand it because the media tends to sensationalize, but when I had the opportunity to visit one of the sites, I could easily understand the significant impact this has in protection of the illegal immigrants and the citizenry of the areas these illegal immigrants reside. I am strongly in support of ISAP and strongly urge anyone who doesn’t know about this program to see the strong benefits of how it serves its purpose, rather than listening to the deafening rants of a strongly liberal opposition.
