ICE Coming Soon to the Q-C, A new HR 4437 with the SAVE Act, and Iowa Democrats Vow to Get Tough on Immigration
âºICE will have an Office in Rock Island, soon
ICE will be coming to the Quad City area and specifically will have an office in Rock Island, Ill. The office was originally going to open this fall but that didn’t happen.
“All I know is that the plans to put an office out there have been postponed to maybe later this year, maybe this spring but there’s no definite date,” spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Chicago, Gail Montenegro said.
The last thing Montenegro heard was that maybe the spring, “I don’t want to say anything definite, you know projects like this get moved around, last I heard the project’s in the spring,” she said.
The main office in Chicago covers a region of six states, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Kansas, and Missouri with sub offices is Milwaukee, Wisc., Indianapolis, Ind., and Springfield, Ill. According to the Department of Homeland Security’s website, Iowa has an office in Des Moines and therefore is not covered by the Chicago region.
“I don’t have any details of what the office (in Rock Island) is going to do. But I can keep you posted,” Montenegro said.
A Spanish speaker, Montenegro said that she can’t comment on whether this will affect families.
“ICE is mandated to enforce our nation’s immigration laws and that’s what we do on a daily basis and we’ll continue to do so in the future,” she said.
âºSAVE Act has Strong Support and Would Enforce Immigration
A bill was introduced last month in Congress that will stop illegal immigration. The Secure America with Immigration and Enforcement (SAVE) Act is sponsored by Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.) would secure the borders, require work authorization verification for all employees and plans on reducing illegal immigration through interior enforcement.
The bill known officially as H.R. 4088 has picked up bi-partisanship support with 125 representatives cosponsoring the bill. The bill only needs a simple majority of 218 representatives to pass the house. H.R. 4088 is very similar to the anti-immigrant bill HR 4437, a few years ago that would have criminalized those without legal status and anyone who helps them. This new bill protects religious organizations from receiving fines but other organizations do not receive the same sort of protection.
Both Rep. Phil Hare (D-Ill.) and Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa) were not on the list. Should the bill pass the House of Representatives, it would go to the Senate, where the bill is sponsored by Democratic Senators Mark Prior (Ark.) and Mary Landrieu (La.).
âºIowa Democrats Want to Get Tough on Immigration
Democratic leaders in Iowa have stated that they want to get tough on businesses that knowingly hire the undocumented with civil and criminal penalties included as punishment.
The leaders recently discussed their agenda for Iowa’s legislative session to the Associated Press. The session will begin on Monday, Jan. 14, 2008. House Majority Leader, Kevin McCarthy (D-Des Moines) said that an aggressive movement on company CEO’s would be needed.
McCarthy said that more details would be available as time approaches. Governor Chet Culver (D-Iowa) said he would likely support the effort.
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