November 18, 2008 7:38 PM
Steve Levy just finished his speech on the Lucero killing on News 12. Here are a few quick reactions:
1. Levy admitted that he has made mistakes on this issue in the past. This is hopeful. It will be useful over the coming days for him to detail what he considers to be his mistakes and how he will ameliorate their effects in the future.
2. The County Executive correctly pointed out that many people knew that these young men had carried out similar acts in the past. He decried their silence. Unfortunately he only talked about the silence of those who were associates of the accused. He did not look at the silence of the immigrants who had been victims of the accused before Lucero's killing. These immigrants were not silent because they supported the violence, they were silent because they were afraid of the police.
3. Levy made a good statement telling immigrants that they will be treated fairly by the police and that undocumented immigrants who are otherwise law abiding will not be arrested for reporting crimes. This should always be the message to the immigrant community about the police's role. The police are here to protect people from crime, not enforce civil immigration laws. When Levy intermixed the police with immigration enforcement, he sent a message that the police are not to be trusted by immigrants.
4. The County Executive criticized those Long Islanders who justify acts like the Lucero killing by pointing to the problem of illegal immigration. Now I'm not sure what percentage of Levy's constituents would openly express such views, but I'm glad they heard that this view is unacceptable. Unfortunately, after making this good, if obvious, point, Levy turned to the other side of the coin, those who say he helped foster a climate of mistrust. Now I'm not sure that there is an equivilence between those who have criticized the County Execs past actions on immigration and folks on the other side who support murder. (I really hope there are not a lot of these folks out there)
5. Steve Levy said that he plans on meeting with community leaders over the coming days to further address this issue. This may be his most important proposal tonight. He needs to meet not just with those who agree with him, but also with those who represent the Latino immigrant community. These meetings can provide a firm platform for moving forward much more than a ten-minute TV address could ever do.