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Border Security and Immigration
Trump scapegoats immigrants with creation
of “Office of Victims of Immigration and Crime
Engagement”
President Trump stated that he has
“ordered the Department of Homeland
Security to create an office to
serve American victims during his
Joint Address to congress. The office
is called VOICE – Victims of Immigration
Crime Engagement. Any
victim of crime deserves acknowledgement
and sympathy, and crime
is an issue that must be taken seriously.
However, the emphasis on victims
of immigrant crimes is problematic.
It only serves to scapegoat and demonize
immigrants even though
the data clearly shows that immigrants,
including unauthorized immigrants,
are less likely than nativeborn
Americans to commit crimes.
The creation of this office had been
included in the interior enforcement
Executive Order that was signed in
January, and in the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS) memo
implementing the Executive Order.
According to the memo, this office
is to be a “programmatic liaison between
ICE and the known victims
of crime committed by removable
aliens,” and will ensure
that victims are
provided information
about the offender
such as immigration
status and
custody status. In
addition to creating
the VOICE office,
the administration
has ordered monthly public reports
on immigrants who have committed
crimes and any local jurisdictions
that release them from custody.
VOICE raises many concerns:
1. Efforts like VOICE may create
a climate of discrimination, suspicion,
and hatred against all immigrants,
and will embolden antiimmigrant
groups.
“It will lead to more harassment,
more hate crimes, more bullying,
and more discrimination against
anybody who looks like he may be
an immigrant,” stated Frank Sharry
of America’s Voice.
The last year has seen an increase
in hate groups, according to the
19
Photo: Elvert Barne
Southern Poverty Law Center, and
very recently several likely hate
crimes have made headlines. In
February an Indian immigrant was
killed by an American man who
thought he was of Middle Eastern
descent and told him to “get out of
my country.” Even more recently, a
Sikh man was shot in Washington
state after being told “Go back to
your own country.”
2. The money going to VOICE
could be better spent to help victims.
In response to the President’s announcement,
the National Center
for the Victims of Crime said that
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