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Long Island Immigrant Alliance Recommendations On Hate Crimes

Posted January 26, 2010 by Patrick Young, Esq.

The Long Island Immigrant Alliance, under the leadership of Luis Valenzuela and Nadia Marin, presented its preliminary recommendations to Suffolk’s Hate Crimes Task Force earlier this months. Two dozen members of LIIA read the recommendations before the Task Force.
The recommendations were the product of a six month process of meetings and participation in hearings by LIIA and were substantially written by Professor Greg Maney of Hofstra University. Ove the next several days, I’ll reprint the document presented to the Task Force. I invite your comments, as LIIA is still revising some of the recommendations based on additional research.
Long Island Immigrant Alliance Recommendations to the Suffolk County Hate Crimes Taskforce
Introduction
The mission of the Long Island Immigrant Alliance (LIIA) is to increase the effective self-organization, collaboration, voice, and civic participation of the immigrant population on Long Island. LIIA also endeavors to increase among the non-immigrant population understanding, acceptance, respect, incorporation, and celebration of our immigrant population. LIIA brings together organizations that have worked on immigration issues for many years and have extensive contact with immigrant communities that form such an integral part of Long Island.
LIIA has developed these preliminary recommendations to the Suffolk County Hate Crimes Task Force, and to Suffolk County government in the belief that many of the problems in this County (epitomized by the hate murder of Marcelo Lucero) can best be addressed if they are taken seriously and addressed head-on.
With the full backing of LIIA, Resolution 2227-2008 established the Suffolk County Special Task Force on Hate Crimes in order “to examine the sources of racial tension in the County, to study and analyze the mechanisms used to report hate crimes in the County, and provide recommendations on current hate crime legislation.” The Task Force was empanelled in June of 2009. So far the Task Force has held several meetings to organize and outline the hearing process, four public hearings in different parts of Suffolk County, and one additional meeting to seek recommendations from groups with expertise in the area of hate crimes. While some meetings were specifically billed as public hearings, it is important to note that all of the Task Force’s meetings are public since it is a public body. Representatives of the Long Island Immigrant Alliance have attended every one of these meetings and hearings. More than 30 people have spoken at hearings; some as individuals and others on behalf of organizations. Many have provided concrete and substantive recommendations for how Suffolk County can improve its response to hate crimes, and can prevent them from occurring in the first place.
Nonetheless, there remains a great deal of work still to be done by the Task Force. Many substantive questions remain unanswered:
-What are the specific reasons for successful arrests/prosecutions in some hate crimes cases but not in others?
-Regarding the hate crimes themselves, what efforts have been made to resolve them?
-When was the County’s memo regarding the questioning of immigration status put into place? How was it made known to the County police officers who are expected to implement it? Have any officers been disciplined for violating the policy and what would the penalties be if violations occurred? Who is in charge of enforcing the policy? What level of cooperation does exist in Suffolk County with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement? Where and how does it take place? Where is the law or policy that enables and guides this cooperation? Is there an agreement between Suffolk County and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1996?
Because these important questions remain unanswered, the Long Island Immigrant Alliance has developed a series of preliminary recommendations that will be developed into final recommendations once the Task Force has completed its investigation. They are based upon the observation of the hearings and meetings that have been held thus far as well as upon the extensive experience of these organizations with the issue of hate crimes, in particular hate crimes against immigrants in Suffolk County. We believe that implementing our recommendations will not only reduce and remedy hate crimes against immigrants, but also hate crimes against other targeted minority groups. Likewise, we believe that implementing substantive recommendations aimed at reducing hate crimes against other targeted minority groups will contribute to a reduction of hate crimes against immigrants. Many immigrants belong to ethnic/racial minority groups, religious minority groups, and the LGBT community (and vice-versa). Moreover, successful efforts to reduce hate against certain targeted groups contribute to an overall ethos of respect and acceptance. Our recommendations are grouped into 3 areas by persons responsible for their implementation: Elected Public Officials, Law Enforcement Officers, and Educators.
Next Up:The Role of Elected Officials

Tags : hate crime, hate crimes, long island immigrant alliance, suffolk, suffolk hate crimes task force

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