Washtenaw County sheriff, officials write op-ed in support of DACA

Op-ed explains why officials signed onto amicus brief defending DACA

Washtenaw County Sheriff Jerry Clayton. (Credit: Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office)

WASHTENAW COUNTY, Mich. – Washtenaw County Sheriff, Jerry Clayton; Mark Gonzalez, district attorney of Nueces County, Texas; and Miriam Aroni Krinsky, a former federal prosecutor and executive director of Fair and Just Prosecution penned an op-ed in The Hill  explaining why they signed onto a recent amicus brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court defending Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. 

“When immigrant communities cannot trust law enforcement – such as when they believe that contacting police or cooperating with prosecutors could lead to deportation for themselves or others – the system breaks down and the entire community suffers. One recent study found that individuals living in communities of recent immigrants are less likely to report violent crime. In particular, in neighborhoods where 65 percent of residents are immigrants, there is only a 5 percent chance that a victim will report a violent crime, compared with a 48 percent chance in a neighborhood where only 10 percent of residents are born outside the United States," a section in the op-ed reads.Â