José E. Serrano: “This is interesting. When we took this up before on different occasions, we were able through this amendment to unite…”

“This is interesting. When we took this up before on different occasions, we were able through this amendment to unite law enforcement throughout the Nation because local police departments continue to tell us that it is in their best interest not to appear to the immigrant population to be involved in enforcing immigration law. In other words, what the police departments at a local level want more than anything else is to be able to speak to residents of that community, be they citizens, legal residents, or undocumented aliens, needing their information, needing their support, in dealing with crime in the community. There are many things that are wrong with this amendment. But the one that I single out is that one because what that does is immediately create a wall between local law enforcement and the immigrant community, saying if I go to him to tell him I know who stole that car, if I go to him to tell him I know who robbed the local grocery store, I am then being faced by a local official who has to by law, in these cases, if these amendments are approved, has to turn me in on my immigration status. And that is totally unacceptable.”