Obama, Napolitano and Ritter drive families and victims of crimes further underground

Gov. Ritter (D) today signed a flawed agreement with the Department of Homeland Security to make it easier to identify and deport undocumented immigrants.

Of course, Ritter makes this decision on the eleventh hour of his term in public office. Why?

Proponents of the policy, including Ritter, argue that Secure Communities only goes after "serious" criminals.

For the record, I do agree with deporting non-citizen, non-resident violent criminals like convicted murderers. And while Secure Communities will try to identify and deport the worst of criminals, the policy comes with some pretty harmful side-effects. 

Here are some of the unwanted outcomes of Secure Communities:

• Thousands of hardworking, otherwise law-abiding parents, who drive to work every day without a Colorado driver’s license or insurance due to immigration status, if stopped by police for a minor traffic violation, could face charges, and if booked in jail, the new policy could deported them, leaving children vulnerable and alone at home.
• Victims or witnesses of domestic violence and child abuse and neglect may not feel comfortable reporting these crimes to police for fear of being deported themselves (or a family member). 

But here is the funny part. I actually think the Obama administration and Governor Ritter are simply playing politics - trying to appear tough on immigration.

I have a big problem with reactionary, politically-driven policies that do not fix actual problems.

Illegal immigration is a real problem and we need to fix it by reforming outdated federal laws, not by playing games with the most disenfranchised members of our society.

This so-called "Secure Communities" program, championed by the Obama administration, will not solve the immigration problem. It will simply drive families and victims of abuse and neglect further underground and in the shadows of society.

Clearly, this new fad in enforcement-only policies by the Obama administration is the wrong approach to the immigration issue. President Obama will have some explaining to do before November 2012.

As for Ritter, the historians will undoubtedly write about today’s story. I wonder on which side of history will Ritter end up on?

I never quote biblical figures. However, there is one specific reference that comes to mind.

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23-34)