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(excerpt) Update from Long Island WINS
Please join Long Island Wins and the Long Island Immigrant Alliance TOMORROW, February 3rd, at the Suffolk County Legislature to support IR 2227 Establishing a Task Force on Hate Crimes in Suffolk County.
Come to the Suffolk County Legislature meeting Tuesday, February 3, 2009 at the William H. Rogers Legislature Bldg., 725 Veterans Memorial Highway, Hauppauge.
If you want to speak try to arrive at 9AM and sign a card indicating that you want to speak during the “public portion” ( NOT during the “hearing”). You will be given 3 minutes to speak. If you don’t want to speak, please come anyway to show your support.
If you can not attend tomorrow morning please click here to contact the Suffolk County Legislature and tell them to vote in favor of IR 2227 to establish the Task Force on Hate Crimes.
This bill will create a 13 member task force to investigate hate crimes in Suffolk County. This bill is a marked departure from the anti-Latino/immigrant bills that have emanated from the Suffolk County Legislature. Here is your opportunity to ensure that Suffolk County policies on hate crimes are re-examined.
Advocates for immigration policy reform will support the bill tomorrow, but also call on the Suffolk County Legislature to improve the bill by:
1. Ensuring that any person who sits on the task force is acceptable and accountable to the community; that their work is not hindered or subject to partisan influence.
2. Affirming the report and recommendations made by the Task Force will not only ameliorate the fear and mistrust among vulnerable populations in Suffolk County, but also that offer practical solutions for addressing, preventing and responding to hate crimes.
3. Completing the report in a timely manner that reflects the need to address failures of County policies.
4. And, committing sufficient resources to the task force so there can be a complete and thorough investigation.
To learn more about the discussion of this bill see Pat Young’s Blog Post about last week’s Public Safety Committee hearing.
News headlines:
Newsday had an editorial calling for the Obama administration to look at the poor performance of the Suffolk Police in addressing the dozen hate crimes in the Patchogue area during the months leading up to the murder of Marcelo Lucero.
The New York Times also had an editorial on our new Senator Kirsten Gillibrand in regards to immigration policy.
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As always, keep checking in with www.LongIslandWins.com for up to the minute immigration news and events. Contact longislandwins@gmail.com with any questions or to learn about how to get involved with Long Island Wins campaigns.
Filed under: immigration, local, long island, Long Island Politics, New York State Politics, News, social & economic justice Tagged: | Criminal Justice, Hate Crime, IR 2227, long island, police, Suffolk County, Suffolk Legislature
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