Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/30/2013 08:39:47 AM PST
Updated: 01/30/2013 10:28:07 PM PST
San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael Ramos sent a hand-delivered letter to House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., asking that pending immigration reforms include provisions allowing immigrants’ DNA samples to be cross-checked against the FBI’s database in order to prevent criminals from obtaining U.S. citizenship.
“If they want to really be here on some form of work visa, or whatever Congress decides on a path to citizenship, I want to make sure they’re law abiding,” Ramos said.
Ramos said he believes the vast majority of illegal immigrants are otherwise law-abiding people who have entered the United States in search of work and he anticipates only a very small percentage of immigrants will be blocked from citizenship by a DNA test linking them to criminal activity.
Immigration reform ascended to the top of Washington’s agenda this week after eight senators – including 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain, Arizona’s senior senator, and likely 2016 GOP contender Marco Rubio, Florida’s junior senator – on Monday asked for new immigration laws that would provide a means for illegal immigrants to pursue citizenship alongside some new enforcement procedures.
President Barack Obama on Tuesday delivered a speech asking for immigration reforms including a path to citizenship for an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants.
Ramos’ proposal could end up being just one of many immigration proposals sent to Congress, but if DNA testing receives serious consideration, the district attorney’s idea could be at the center of serious debate between security concerns on one side and privacy on the other.
“What kind of precedent is this setting for DNA collection for anybody?” asked Lucero Chavez, an immigrant rights attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.
News of Ramos’ idea also reached the New York City offices of the Center for Responsible Genetics before the close of business Wednesday, and the group’s president said he has serious reservations about the proposal.
“There’s a false belief that DNA is unassailable as an instrument of police use,” said center President Jeremy Gruber, an attorney and former ACLU field director.
“The truth is that there’s only limited value for DNA in these circumstances,” he continued, “and the human rights and privacy considerations for having such a database is overwhelming.”
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The process to obtain legal residency in the United States is already extensive and very prolonged. There is no need to to invade a person’s privacy any further. The requirements already ask for medical records and fingerprints with all the background of the individual. The process to obtain residency should be expedited not prolonged. It takes 16 years from the date of the petition to the date of the interview to obtain residency, if approved. That is half of a person’s working years. Emphasizes should be placed on how to improve the system and reduce the time in waiting for petitions to be processed.
Wow, even I have to agree this is wrong. Why not just tattoo numbers on immigrants arms…I don’t see much difference.
Where’s the PICTURE on this article?
I want to see if Jerry Brown is standing on Ramos’ right side- or would it be that pretty lady now, Kamala Harris.
Ramos is an idiot politicking for a way out of San Bernardino County. This stupid attention-grabbing idea is a prime example. It’s obviously another creation of his adviser Dave Ellis/
Hold on now,there just may be a point to the criminal aspect that ramos makes. Do you think we could start by sending his DNA….i mean if you want to take a bite out of crime…
Attention all brain dead: CALIF law already provides for DNA collection of criminals. The idea that DNA should be collected from people who we don’t know what their criminal record is because they are here illegally is not a bad idea. If we knew for a fact that these aliens were not criminals that would be a different issue. As it is we just don’t know.We should err on the side of effective law enforcement. Moreover, a significant number of criminals in California are in fact illegal aliens.
CALIF law>
Ramos is not too familiar with that..he didn’t have to study, he just gave the teachers apples for passing grades.
Not much has changed with him…
THANK YOU…nice picture…AND HEY LOOK!
Ramos is giving THE PRESS a nice demonstration of how that DNA sample will be taken, he is showing how the mouth needs to be open wide enough to insert that COTTON SWAB.