NAPO Washington Reports

President Trump Signs Executive Orders on Immigration Enforcement; Update: Confirmation Vote on Sessions to be Next AG This Week; NAPO in the News; NAPO Supports Legislation Targeting Immigrants with Gang Ties; NAPO Opposes Cory Jones Act; NAPO’s Sponsor/Cosponsor Spreadsheet

January 30, 2017


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President Trump Signs Executive Orders on
Immigration Enforcement

On January 25th, President Trump issued an Executive Order which addresses the issue of sanctuary cities and their non-compliance with the enforcement of federal immigration law.

Sanctuary policies in cities and jurisdictions across the country make it difficult for law enforcement to effectively protect the communities they serve from violent criminal aliens. The country’s immigration system relies on local law enforcement complying with immigration detainers - requests from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for local law enforcement to hold an illegal immigrant temporarily - to give federal law enforcement an opportunity to take the individual into custody. Sanctuary cities forbid their local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration officials, which has led to the release of violent criminals back into our communities.

The Executive Order would make sanctuary jurisdictions ineligible to receive federal grant funding, except “as deemed necessary for law enforcement purposes by the Attorney General or the Secretary [of DHS].” The Trump Administration recognizes that law enforcement should not be punished for decisions made by local politicians. By strategically choosing what federal funding to withhold, the Administration is encouraging cooperation between federal, state and local law enforcement in enforcing our country’s immigration laws in a way that does not further endanger our communities.

NAPO has long fought against sanctuary city policies. As part of that fight, we support the Stop Dangerous Sanctuary Cities Act, introduced by Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) and Representative Diane Black (R-TN), legislation that aims to end sanctuary cities by withholding federal grant funds from these jurisdictions.  Much like the Executive Order, this legislation would not punish law enforcement for decisions made by elected officials by taking away much needed federal grant funding such as the COPS Program or the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne-JAG) Program, but instead focuses the penalties on the grant programs most important to city and county managers, such as the Economic Development Administration grants.

President Trump also issued a second Executive Order on immigration enforcement on January 25th, which, amongst other things, directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to prioritize the Department’s 287(g) program as part of its immigration enforcement plan. Under this program, agreements between the DHS and state and local law enforcement officials allow for qualified state and local law enforcement officers to be deputized to perform immigration law enforcement functions.

The 287(g) program grants state and local officers the necessary resources and latitude to pursue investigations relating to violent crimes, human smuggling, and gang and drug activity.  These investigations are essential to keeping our nation’s communities safe by getting dangerous criminal aliens off of our streets.

It is state and local law enforcement officers, who, during the course of daily patrols and duties, will encounter foreign-born criminals and immigration violators who pose a threat to national security or public safety.  NAPO believes these two Executive Orders are important steps towards ensuring a comprehensive approach may be taken to securing the lasting safety of our communities.

 

Update: Confirmation Vote on Sessions to be Next AG This Week

The Senate Judiciary Committee was supposed to vote on Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) nomination to be the next U.S. Attorney General on January 24th, but Committee Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) put a hold on that vote for a week stating that Committee Democrats needed more time to vet the candidate. The Committee will be voting on Senator Sessions’ nomination on January 31st and the Senate is expected to vote on his confirmation on February 2nd or 3rd.

NAPO continues to work to ensure his confirmation.  We are looking forward to meeting with the new Attorney General as soon as he takes office to discuss our priorities for the Department of Justice, including the changes we would like to see to the Civil Rights Division and the COPS Office as well as adequate funding for state and local law enforcement grant programs.

 

NAPO in the News

On January 17th, NAPO Executive Director Bill Johnson was interviewed by TMZ.com regarding comments made by Pacman Jones during his arrest wishing death on a Cincinnati, Ohio officer. Johnson’s comments were turned into an article, “National Police Organization Blasts Roger Goodell: ‘Zero chance he’ll punish Pacman Jones.”  Johnson tore into NFL Commissioner Goodell and his continued lack of support for the law enforcement community:

"‘Under Goodell, the NFL has stood for Not For Law enforcement. He continuously fails to discipline for disrespecting officers. From Kaepernick's anti-police socks, to not allowing the Cowboys to honor the fallen officers, to supporting Beyonce’s halftime show. He doesn’t have the moral courage to do the right thing.’

As for the video of Jones cussing out a police officer during his Jan. 3 arrest ... Johnson says, ‘The video is obviously disappointing and vulgar.’

‘This is something that law enforcement deals with all the time, but once an athlete or celebrity gets involved, that’s when it becomes newsworthy.’

‘The video shows how dangerous this job is for cops. It’s a tragedy that this happens all the time. Law enforcement shouldn’t have to deal with this.’"

The full article is available online.

Johnson’s comments to TMZ were also picked up by Western Journalism.

NAPO will continue to ensure our members’ voices are heard loud and clear on the Hill, with the Administration, and in the media. If you have any questions about the publication cited above, please contact Bill Johnson at: bjohnson@napo.org.

 

NAPO Supports Legislation Targeting Immigrants with Gang Ties

NAPO pledged its support for S. 52, sponsored by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), a bill that would bar aliens associated with a criminal gang from entering the United States and make clear that they are not eligible for deferred deportation and should be placed in an expedited removal process.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), there are approximately 33,000 violent street gangs, motorcycle gangs, and prison gangs with about 1.4 million members criminally active in the U.S. and Puerto Rico today. Gangs have been directly linked to drug and gun trafficking, prostitution and human trafficking, fraud, violent maiming, and assault and murder.

Cross-border crime by gangs is a significant concern for law enforcement. It impacts communities both along our Southwest border and across the country as drugs trafficked across the border are transported and sold on our neighborhood streets. With these drugs come an increase in assaults, larceny and burglary to our communities. By targeting aliens associated with criminal gangs, S. 52 would give law enforcement an important tool in fighting cross-border gang crimes as well as the steady growth in gang participation nationwide.

NAPO looks forward to working with Senator Grassley and his staff to pass this important legislation. If you have any questions, please contact Andy Edmiston at aedmiston@napo.org.

 

NAPO Opposes Cory Jones Act

NAPO opposes legislation, the Cory Jones Act (H.R. 158), introduced by Representative Alcee Hastings (D-FL), that would prohibit Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grants from going to agencies that allow plainclothes officers or plainclothes officers in unmarked vehicles to engage in routine traffic stops.  It would also allow civil suits to be brought against officers by individuals injured as a result of such a traffic stop – simply because the stop was done by a plainclothes officer.

Across the country, law enforcement agencies use plainclothes officers and unmarked cars for a variety of reasons, from detective work to catching distracted drivers on our nation’s highways. Most states and jurisdictions have laws that govern how agencies use unmarked cars and the officers that drive them are trained on the proper use of such vehicles. Further, agencies have policies plainclothes officers must follow when they interact with the public.

The Cory Jones Act is a federal overreach in its blanket prohibition of the use of plainclothes officers and unmarked cars for routine traffic stops for COPS grantees.  Further, this bill shows a complete lack of support for law enforcement by automatically allowing civil suits to be brought against officers. It makes the assumption that the officer making the stop was in the wrong, when there are numerous public safety issues that could have led to the traffic stop.

Not only does NAPO oppose this legislation as it is bad policy, but we continue to oppose using the COPS grant program as a tool to move a distinct political agenda that does not take into account state and local public safety needs. This just punishes communities served by these agencies by denying them vital funding to meet their community policing needs.

Policies such as these are pushed at the expense of critical funding for the hiring and retention of officers. This funding should be focused on officer and community safety measures such as lowering response time for emergency calls and two officer patrol units. NAPO will continue to fight to maintain the program’s original intent – helping states and localities hire and retain community police officers to ensure they can protect and serve America’s communities efficiently and effectively.

If you have any questions, please contact Andy Edmiston at aedmiston@napo.org.

 

NAPO’s Sponsor/Cosponsor Spreadsheet

NAPO’s updated “Sponsor/Cosponsor” spreadsheet is available on our web site, along with the latest “Legislative Positions” document.

The “Sponsor/Cosponsor” spreadsheet is a useful tool to check if your members of Congress have supported pieces of legislation that will impact our members. NAPO updates this spreadsheet regularly, and continues to ensure our voice is heard on Capitol Hill.         

If you have any questions about any of the legislation that NAPO is currently working, please contact Andrea Edmiston at: aedmiston@napo.org.

 

Please monitor NAPO’s website, www.napo.org, and Facebook page: National Association of Police Organizations, and follow us on Twitter at NAPOpolice for breaking news and updates.

 

 

 

 

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NAPO’s 29TH ANNUAL PENSION & BENEFITS SEMINAR

Please join NAPO at our 29th Annual Police, Fire, EMS and Municipal Employee Pension & Benefits Seminar February 26 - 28, 2017 at Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress in Orlando, Florida.

Thanks to the assistance of our impressive advisory board, we are receiving overwhelming responses to our seminar. Our goal is to educate pension and union representatives, along with their providers, on the latest issues surrounding the pensions and benefits industry.

This year’s key issues include: Economic and Political Updates, Asset Allocations, Alternative Investments, Department of Labor’s New Fiduciary Rules, Rising Health Care Costs, The Imposition of the “Cadillac Tax” on Public Safety Plans, just to name a few.

Take an active role in improving the future of your fund by registering for this informative seminar. If you have any questions, please contact Elizabeth Loranger, NAPO’s Director of Events, at (800) 322-6276 or email eloranger@napo.org.