Philadelphia Will No Longer Allow ICE to Access Arrest Database

I was on vacation recently so perhaps I didn’t hear that Philadelphia had seceded from the union. If not, the city is doing a damn good imitation of being a separate country.

The city’s Democratic mayor, Jim Kenney, announced that his administration was ending their agreement with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) to share arrest records.

Why? Because Kenney couldn’t allow the agreement to continue “in good conscience.”

Kenney was apparently shocked, shocked I say, to discover that ICE is responsible for enforcing immigration laws. It was a huge blow to his delicate liberal constitution to find out that ICE was using the arrest records to investigate and deport people who were in the country illegally.

So, conscience.

The Hill:

Kenney’s decision comes after several incidents that he says gave him reason to be concerned that the agency was using its access to the Preliminary Arraignment Reporting System, or PARS, in “inappropriate ways.”

The mayor’s office claimed that ICE would search the database to find Philadelphia residents born outside of the U.S. and target them for investigation, even if they had not been accused or convicted of a crime.

Well, whom should ICE be investigating if not potential or probable illegal aliens? If someone is here legally, what’s the big deal? Shouldn’t the government be investigating people to determine their legal status? What the hell do we have an immigration enforcement agency for if they don’t investigate immigration cases?

Sheesh.

According to the mayor, Philadelphia ICE officials confirmed earlier this month that the agency’s access to the database could result in immigration enforcement against residents without criminal convictions.

The database, which is a real-time database of arrests, does not list immigration status, according to the Inquirer, but does include country of origin and Social Security number.

What a great catch-22. You can’t arrest and deport illegal aliens because they haven’t been convicted of anything. But you can’t convict illegal aliens unless you arrest them.

Please stop. I’m dizzy.

Any illegal possessing a Social Security number should also be arrested for fraud and identity theft. Using Kenney’s reasoning, someone caught with a gun in his hand standing over a dead body should not be deported because he hasn’t been convicted of anything.

Logic, reason, and rational thinking all go out the window when addressing the question of illegal aliens. If you don’t like the immigration laws currently on the books that make it a crime to cross the border illegally and subject the offender to deportation, then change the law. It really is that simple. It may be difficult to do because the vast majority of Americans think the law is pretty much OK the way it is. But to rely on virtue signaling in lieu of rational arguments is simple, nauseating posturing — something liberals excel at.