Letter To The Editor From 69th District Assembly Representative, Bob Kulp
Saturday, February 20th, 2016 -- 6:28 AM
The following is an excerpt from a letter to the editor from 69th District Representative of the Assembly, Bob Kulp:I care deeply about the Latino community. I have many friends and a lot of co-workers in the Latino community. When Assembly Bill 450, the Sanctuary City bill, first came out, I was quite worried about it. Most of that was because I didn't understand what the bill really did. Whenever I don't understand something, I dig in to the topic to try to get to the truth.
AB450 is incorrectly labeled as an anti-immigrant law. That is grossly inaccurate, and I'm offended that opponents of this legislation used the bill to inspire misplaced fear and anger.
Unfortunately, there are people who want to perpetrate fear in Hispanic communities by citing this as anti-immigration. It is NOT that. It's simply aligning local and state laws with the federal laws. There is a lot to gain by some people by peddling FEAR rather than TRUTH, and I find that despicable and disingenuous, to say the least.
I've been working closely with Hispanic leaders around the state to make sure we get this right, and once this bill is explained to them, they are in support. They don't want to have people that commit crimes in their community any more than the balance of the population of the State does. They are concerned that if there are people in their communities that are charged with a crime and not properly dealt with according to federal laws, the entire community will be painted with a broad profile brush.
Let's examine what this bill actually does. Assembly Bill 450, prohibits a county, city, town or village from enacting an ordinance that prohibits an employee (like a law enforcement officer) from asking about somebody's immigration status if they've committed a dangerous crime.
Currently local officials in every area of the State, except Racine, Milwaukee, and Madison, CAN ask about the immigration status of anyone they stop for any reason; traffic violation, etc. That doesn't change, and this bill doesn't address that. Right now, if you are charged with a serious crime (or a mere traffic violation) in Racine, Milwaukee, and Madison, the officials are forbidden to ask about the immigration status of the person that is charged.
This bill is very narrow in its focus that it doesn't allow any municipalities to pass ordinances that forbid their employees (police officers) etc. from asking about the immigration status of people who are charged with a crime under Wisconsin State Statutes chs. 346.63, chs. 940 to 948, ch. 951, or ch. 4961.
Racine, Milwaukee, and Madison are the only three municipalities that currently have an ordinance that forbids officials from inquiring about immigration status. In these municipalities, they will be able to continue to have an ordinance forbidding officials from asking about the immigration status for traffic and other minor violations that do not reach the level of a "crime" as defined above.
It would be possible in Abbotsford for instance, for city council to pass an ordinance that prohibits immigration status to be a point of inquiry during a traffic stop, etc. (Right now, it's OK by federal, state and local law to ask.)
It would NOT be possible to pass an ordinance in Abbotsford to prohibit asking about immigration status when a person is charged with a "crime" such as is found in the above cited statute. That would include drunk driving (the lowest threshold) but also include major crimes such as rape, murder, theft, etc. etc.
THAT is ALL the law that we passed in the Assembly does.
Even in the explanation above that I've tried to give, I would guess that some may still be confused. This bill doesn't lend itself well to sound bites to support it. But I would end this commentary by saying again, this is NOT an anti-immigrant bill. If you have further questions, please call my office at 1-888-534-0069 or email me at [email protected].
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.