Local police officials on record opposing governor’s “mandate”

BY DENNIS GEISINGER

The governor’s executive order includes requiring of Department of Public Safety personnel to search through data bases for fraudulent driver’s license photos. (Photo by Dennis Geisinger)

“We see this as a political move,” Minnesota Senate Majority Whip Patricia Torres Ray (DFL-Minneapolis) recently told Southside Pride about Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s Jan. 7 announcement of an executive order requiring some Minnesota law enforcement officers to enforce federal immigration law. “He has put the Legislature in a very difficult place because of his political ambitions and I resent it,” said Torres Ray.

Pawlenty’s order means that Department of Public Safety personnel must now make time for searches of fraudulent photos on the state’s driver’s license database and that new state employees and contractors who do business with the state must cover the cost of verifying citizenship with an internet-based system run by the federal government. Pawlenty has also asked the Legislature to pass a bill that would strengthen the state’s human trafficking laws, increase fines for businesses that knowingly hire illegal immigrants and raise penalties for identity theft.

“The governor’s executive order combines several issues relating to law enforcement that are problematic,” said Torres Ray. “We’re trying to separate the issues involved—issues like identity theft, human trafficking, dealing with employers who hire undocumented workers.”

“We haven’t seen how he intends to carry [his policies] forward,” Torres Ray said. “He’s asking us to give a mandate to state and local agencies to do investigative work they are neither financed or trained to do.”

The senator’s feeling is one echoed by other DFL leaders and by city officials from both government and police in both Minneapolis and St. Paul. After the governor’s announcement, Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller (DFL-Minneapolis) told the Star Tribune that Pawlenty’s announcement was in step with John McCain’s victory in New Hampshire.

“Perhaps the governor is harpening his message for the national stage,” Pogemiller was quoted as saying.

When Pawlenty introduced virtually the same legislation in 2006, he was met with virtually the same response. Then St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman called the governor’s proposals “brownbaiting” in the Pioneer Press, and in the same article, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak said, “... my experience over the past few years is this is only discussed when there’s an election around the corner.”

Pawlenty’s strategy was also roundly criticized by law enforcement as creating both big strains on already over-burdened police budgets as well as sowing seeds of mistrust among police and immigrant communities.

“We [the police] need to have the trust of the immigrants,” Minneapolis Assistant Police Chief Sharon Lubinski told Southside Pride last year. “We want them to be able to approach us,” said Lubinski.

The City of Minneapolis had already passed a separation ordinance in 2003 and a year later, St. Paul had passed an almost identical version. Police chiefs in both Minneapolis and St. Paul had gone on record as saying that the use of their officers as agents of federal immigration policy would both aggravate the difficulty in getting immigrants to report crime and work with the police, and would add a large burden to already strained resources.

According to a list compiled in 2004 by a group called National Immigration Forum, the roll call of those opposed to police other than federal investigators enforcing federal immigration law included 65 state and local law enforcement agencies in 24 states; 14 state and national law enforcement associations; 58 state and local elected bodies and officials—including Florida Governor Jeb Bush; 17 members of the U.S. House; and the editorial boards of newspapers in 21 cities.

At the time that this story went to print Gov. Pawlenty’s office had not responded to questions from Southside Pride.

“Everybody is affected by this, not only immigrants, but those who live in the communities where these immigrants live,” said Torres Ray. “The governor is creating tremendous problems for the City.”