Gwinnett Buzz

The Concerned Black Clergy have come out in opposition of the Gwinnett County Sheriff Department’s plan to receive training from federal authorities on how to identify and to begin deportation processing of illegal immigrants arrested in Gwinnett County.   While I am hesitant to be too critical of a group of clergymen, I think their protest smacks more of politics than religion.  They make a valid point that immigration enforcement has ripped apart families, especially when not all family members are illegal.  This does raise a perplexing enforcement question as to what is more important in such cases: adherence to enforcement of a law or honoring and respecting families when an alleged illegal immigrant may not be harming society in any way?  That being said, Peach Pundit makes an excellent observation regarding the group’s second complaint (re: racial profiling):

The clear message from Concerned Black Clergy is that they…don’t understand that this program is going to be used with those arrested for crimes at the Gwinnett County Detention Center.

Is the Concerned Black Clergy simply trotting out the tried and true boogeyman of “racial profiling” in an effort to make those who disagree fearful that they will be labeled as a racist?  This could insulate the group from having to engage in any meaningful defense of their pro-illegal immigrant position.  As Peach Pundit says, just saying something is profiling does not make it so.  Of course, perhaps the clergy really do fear this program could spark profiling.  If so, I would simply refer them back to the Peach Pundit observation about when these methods would be applied. Besides, ascertaining the residency status of someone who has already been arrested is completely reasonable and appropriate.

Tags: Concerned Black Clergy, Crime, Gwinnett County Sheriff, Immigration, Peach Pundit, racial profiling

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