Feds should enforce speed limits in Berks County

by Steve Reinbrecht 

Because of the clear danger that surrounds us all, the federal government should hire thousands of law-enforcement officers to crack down everywhere on drivers who exceed the speed limit.

With its self-proclaimed theme of Law and Order, how can the U.S. government – whose No. 1 priority is to keep us safe – continue to ignore the suffering and death caused by speeding drivers?

The National Safety Council estimates that in 2016, as many as 40,000 people died in motor vehicles crashes, many of which must have involved speeding drivers. I cringe from speeding drivers everywhere – and face it – when you see someone in an Audi, BMW, or Camaro, you can be sure they HAVE been speeding, even if they are not speeding now.

Some local police chiefs might oppose visits by federal officers, here to handle things and disrupt their communities. But then it would be time to get new crimefighters who have the gung-ho, compassion-be-damned attitude needed to get these criminals off our roads.

Don’t tell me that most speeding violators go only a bit above the limit and are otherwise overwhelmingly law-abiding. We are a nation based on the rule of law.

The liberal media will complain that my idea would be terribly expensive. They’d claim that properly enforcing the speed limit would expand government and that it would disrupt daily life for millions. And that it would make people in many communities further fear and hate police.

But don’t give me this liberal tripe about mercy for minor transgressors and improving nonsensical laws instead of enforcing them.

I don’t want any drivers who violate the speeding laws to ever feel safe, because newly hired and empowered federal agents could be around any corner. No law-breakers deserve amnesty.

It should be easier to find out about ICE detentions in Berks County

by Steve Reinbrecht

A young man told me that federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers grabbed a friend of his off the street in Reading on Monday and took him to a facility in York.

My friend knows his two brothers as well. The detainee, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, has a baby born here, and has no criminal history, according to my source.

I could not find him on the ICE “detainee tracker” website.

I sent an e-mail to ICE spokesman Adrian Smith, providing the details – the detainee's name, his country and when and where he was nabbed.

Smith called me Thursday. He helped me confirm that I was looking at the proper tracking page. But he said he could not provide information about the incident I was asking about.

He said to make sure I had the proper spelling for the man’s name.

I asked, what if an ICE agent had entered it improperly?

I told him it’s very important for the public to be able to quickly find out about anybody detained or arrested by the government, at any level.

We don’t want people disappearing. That would have been laughable to consider a couple of years ago, but anything seems possible now.

Smith told me he would check and call me back. I didn’t here back by Thursday night.

I also requested, under the federal Freedom of Information Act, a list of everybody ICE has detained in Berks so far.

On the phone, he said he couldn’t give that to me. I hope he sends me a more-formal response to my formal request. 

I find the whole method of getting public information from a government agency shockingly difficult.

I think Smith is trying to do his job within its restraints – he always calls me in response to my queries, in just that doing way more than many public servants have for me on this issue of recent federal immigration activities in Berks [District Attorney John Adams, Reading Mayor Wally Scott, Reading Police Chief Andres Dominguez Jr., and City Council President Jeff Waltman haven't got back to me, if my calls and e-mails are reaching them.]

Reading Eagle ignores Reading, works to normalize Donald Trump

by Steve Reinbrecht

Which presidents have visited Berks County? That's the front page story in the Reading Eagle. The take-away? There is no news in Berks. Oh yeah, fasnachts. And Thon.

Sanctuary city? No mention of the issue in the Eagle.

The City Hall reporter produces about three stories a month, usually covering a meeting, in a city of 90,000 people that has terrible problems with poverty, education and economic development.

But the local "newspaper" ignores the place where the real news is.

On the national level -- let's normalize Donald Trump, just the type of authoritarian, God-spouting, anti-immigrant, anti-education, fear-mongering, media-bashing caudillo to give the Berks Establishment hard-ons.

"Animosity to the president represents an American tradition."

Berks, Reading officials should say: Sanctuary or not?

by Steve Reinbrecht

Is Reading a sanctuary city? Do police in Berks County ever ask people about their residency or immigration status? I've been calling City Hall and the courthouse, but have not heard from the mayor or district attorney. I think it would be good for the community if they went on the record.

The federal government estimates that about 28,000 people in Berks were born in one of dozens of foreign countries.

I’d bet thousands of undocumented immigrants live here.

The idea of sanctuary cities, where local crimefighters do not ask about immigration or hold people for federal immigration agents, has gained attention after President Trump vowed to stop sending federal funds to them.

Supporters of sanctuary cities say that when local police cooperate with immigration officials or ask about residency status, it discourages people from reporting crime or testifying.

Reading is NOT a sanctuary city, City Clerk Linda Kelleher told me in an e-mail, without elaborating.

Mayor Wally Scott and Reading Police Chief Andres Dominguez Jr. did not return my calls.

The Berks Jail does not hold people for federal immigration agents if they have a “detainer,” Warden Janine Quigley told me in an e-mail.

“We do not hold individuals solely for this reason. Sometimes an incarcerated individual with a Berks sentence or Berks charges also has an ICE detainer; however, once the person is released on the local issue, we begin the discharge process.”

County Commissioner Kevin Barnhardt said the county jail hasn’t honored federal immigration detainers for about eight years, under a policy started by former Warden George Wagner.

District Attorney John Adams did not respond to my inquiries.

In 2010, Adams told bctv.org that being in America illegally does not violate local laws.

“Berks District Attorney John Adams said immigration issues are a federal issue and being in America illegally does not violate state law.

"There are actually provisions in the law to protect crime victims who are here illegally," he said.

“[Former] Reading Police Chief William Heim said illegal immigrants who are not wanted for other reasons should not fear reporting crimes to the police.

“The department does not check immigration status, even during traffic stops, because it considers that to be a responsibility of the federal government, he said."

State Sen. David Argall, who represents Southwestern Berks County, wants to punish communities that don’t cooperate with federal immigration agents.

Argall is a co-sponsor of Senate Bill [SB] 10, which would prevent municipalities from obstructing federal efforts to deport illegal immigrants.

“Under this bill, municipalities and counties would be prohibited from authorizing themselves as ‘sanctuary cities’ as a way to hinder federal efforts to prevent illegal immigration,” he wrote in a newsletter last month.

“Combating the issue of sanctuary cities is critical for the safety and welfare of our residents and communities.”

  

Berks County does have a contract with ICE to detain immigrant families.

Argall's article:

Addressing the issue of sanctuary cities

Immigration has certainly been an important issue that has taken the forefront of discussion at both the state and federal levels.

Over the years I have consistently supported legislation concerning illegal immigration and strict enforcement of provisions for employers and individuals who are found to be living and/or working in the United States illegally, and I will continue to do so. 

Senator Reschenthaler (R-Allegheny/Washington) introduced legislation, which I have co-sponsored, addressing the issue of sanctuary cities in Pennsylvania.  “Under this bill, municipalities and counties would be prohibited from authorizing themselves as “sanctuary cities” as a way to hinder federal efforts to prevent illegal immigration. 

Combatting the issue of sanctuary cities is critical for the safety and welfare of our residents and communities.