Chief Been Calls Concerned Citizens "Bigots"

Local radio station KRMG reports that Tulsa Police Chief Dave Been is calling Tulsa citizens who oppose illegal immigration "bigots." KRMG also reports that a local group, Immigration Reform for Oklahoma Now has called for Been's dismissal. Here is the TPD's policy on illegal immigration as stated by Chief Been in the Tulsa World Sunday, July 30, 2006:

"Tulsa Police Chief Dave Been said his department will cooperate with ICE in its roundups, but it refuses to get into the business of immigration enforcement. Doing so would make solving day-to-day "local crimes more difficult for officers because of the fear it creates.

"We do not ask for citizenship status," Been said. "Anytime you do that it flies in the face of community policing."

"The Tulsa Police Department is committed to providing protection to everyone within its jurisdiction, he said.

"Last week the Police Department issued a public statement reaffirming its hands-off position on enforcement of federal immigration law. It coincides with the policies of police departments in 58 other cities, according to the Major Cities Chiefs Association.

"In addition to undermining trust and cooperation, the association says local police lack the resources, training and authority to take on enforcement of federal immigration law.

Been's statement places Tulsa in the company of places like Berkeley, California and Cambridge, Massachussetts which have designated themselves as "sanctuary cities" that do not enforce Federal immigration laws. Been's policy is
to the left of Bill Clinton and Janet Reno, who both publicly supported enforcement of Federal immigration laws by state and local authorities.

In these days of political correctness and hate crime laws, Been's statements are particularly troubling in that they show no respect for differing political opinions and suggest that the city's top law enforcement officer has more concern for non-citizen aliens who are by definition federal offenders than for law abiding citizens of his own community who hold differing political views on an important issue.

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"American institutions rest solely on good citizenship. They were created by people who had a background of self-government. New arrivals should be limited to our capacity to absorb them into the ranks of good citizenship. America must be kept American. For this purpose, it is necessary to continue a policy of restricted immigration. It would lie well to make such immigration of a selective nature with some inspection at the source, and based either on a prior census or upon the record of naturalization. Either method would insure the admission of those with the largest capacity and best intention of becoming citizens. I am convinced that our present economic and social conditions warrant a limitation of those to be admitted. We should find additional safety in a law requiring the immediate registration of all aliens. Those who do not want to be partakers of the American spirit ought not to settle in America." Calvin Coolidge, (First Message to Congress, December 1923)

"There is no constitutional right to come to America. It is a privilege to be admitted. It is disgraceful, as well as harmful to our personal safety and national health, that we have allowed 9 million people to come here illegally." Cal Thomas, ("Purging the Evil from Among Us" World Jewish Review, Jan. 26, 2002)

"Illegal hiring undermines the vast and expensive government effort to control the borders. Billions have been spent hiring guards, erecting fences and thwarting smugglers. A continuing supply of jobs on the illegal market will keep the undocumented coming. And the competition certainly hurts American workers and those legally in this country not only by closing off entry level jobs but by holding down wage increases that legal workers might bargain for. Continued defiance of the law merits prosecution. Legal immigration will suffer if the lawbreaking goes unchecked." ("Labor, the Law and Chickens," Washington Post, September 2, 1996)

"Based on my experience as a prosecutor in Miami, illegal immigration is one of the most critical issues facing this country. As a prosecutor, I felt the burden of it. I think what's important... is for the state and the federal government and for local governments to work together to do everything possible to control illegal immigration in a comprehensive way. This is a serious problem of major concern, and we have got to approach it in a way that is consistent with this nation's tradition as a nation of immigrants, focusing on legal immigration, supporting that in the right way and doing everything possible consistent with the Constitution to control illegal immigration, and we will continue in those efforts." Janet Reno, (Washington Times, Nov. 11, 1994 p.A-15)

"Let me be clear: I also think it's wrong to condone illegal immigration that flouts our laws, strains our tolerance, taxes our resources. Even a nation of immigrants must have rules and conditions and limits, and when they are disregarded, public support for immigration erodes in ways that are destructive to those who are newly arrived and those who are still waiting patiently to come." Bill Clinton, (Presidential Documents, June 13, 1998)