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There's a lot of talk these days about police reform. In the wake of George Floyd's death and Derek Chauvin's guilty verdict, the issue has perhaps never been more pressing The Senate is currently considering the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.

But while there is some partisan tension over what measures to take next, there's an easy way to support police officers that shouldn't be controversial at all: immigration reform.

An improved immigration system can unite our country. It can also help make our local law enforcement more effective and our communities safer. We must unite around the crucial task of bringing law-abiding, undocumented immigrants into the legal immigration system.

Over the course of my career with the Seattle Police Department, I experienced firsthand how policies and programs of inclusion help to build safe and healthy neighborhoods that help our entire city thrive. Whether through demographic advisory councils that channel community voices on public safety issues, through our Immigrant Family Institute that brings police and communities together to learn from each other, or our Women's Refugee Institute, through which female officers empower women to become leaders in the community, our commitment to engagement built trust with our immigrant communities, strengthening both perceptually and empirically the public safety of our city.

After nearly 30 years in law enforcement, I can tell you that police want to do what's right for our communities. But we are often inhibited by policies that don't work. A major problem with our current system, for example, is that undocumented immigrants don't feel comfortable calling law enforcement for help or reporting crimes.

Consider Wilson Rodriguez, a father of three who called 911 in 2018 to report someone possibly attempting to break into his home. He was put into ICE custody. Stories like these silence others like him. But law enforcement can best serve our local communities when we are able to build trust with the people we serve.

Under our current system, the injured suffer without medical care, case-breaking tips on violent criminals are never supplied, and underground drug trafficking and other enterprises continue to thrive.

Federal authorities should permit undocumented immigrants already living and working in the U.S. to apply for a legal, provisional status while they work to earn permanent residence. Most immigrants would "come out of the shadows" if this were an option. And truly dangerous criminals could no longer use the fear of deportation to threaten them into silence.

This reform would also allow members of law enforcement to focus their time and resources on these dangerous criminalsthose bringing drugs, guns and violence into our communities. Most law enforcement should not be tasked with apprehending and removing immigrants who have no criminal background.

We know the statistics that show that undocumented immigrants are actually less likely to commit crimes than U.S. citizens. And yet, the task of identifying illegal immigrants has, in recent years, trickled down to members of state and local law enforcement, whose main job should really be the safety of their communities.

Consider that in 2018, U.S. attorneys prosecuted more immigration violations than drug-related crimes or violent crimes. What does this say about where current policy has pushed our priorities?

Moreover, this legalization process would benefit our cities' economies. Mass deportation of the 11 million undocumented workers currently in this country would not only be impossible but harmful to American citizens. Many jobs in agriculture, food processing, transportation and construction are filled by undocumented immigrants because these businesses can't find enough U.S. citizens to work there, and there aren't enough permanent visas or guest worker visas being offered to hire immigrants legally. A report by Scientific American detailed the efforts to which these businesses, like larger farms, are going to attract legal employees. Even as they offer higher wages and benefits like 401(k) plans, health insurance, and subsidized housing, it's not enough.

Replacing these illegal pathways for immigration with legal ones will help local businesses hire legal employees. And it has long been known that jobs deter crime.

Law enforcement should be supported in treating all people with dignity and compassion and in focusing on what we know will make our communities safer. Reforming our immigration system by offering a path to legal residence will help local law enforcement build positive, productive relationships with the communities they serve.

Law-abiding immigrants already living and working in the U.S. should be given the opportunity to legalize their status after meeting stringent requirements, like paying taxes and fines and passing criminal background checks.

We are not divided on this issue, nor should we be. It's win-win. Let's make it happen.

Carmen Best served as the chief of police in Seattle for 28 years.

The views in this article are the writer's own.

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Want to Support the Police? Push for Immigration Reform | Opinion - Newsweek

Has the time finally arrived for immigration reform?

In remarks to Congress on April 28, President Joe Biden outlined his sprawling American Jobs Plan and signaled immigration reform is a top priority for his administration.

In his speech,Biden described his aim to pass the largest jobs plan since World War Two.

It creates jobs to upgrade our transportation infrastructure; jobs modernizing our roads, bridges, highways; jobs building ports and airports, rail corridors, transit lines, Biden said.

Biden also called for Congress to pass immigration reform.

For more than 30 years, politicians have talked about immigration reform, and weve done nothing about it. Its time to fix it, he said.Among several priorities that Biden wants in immigration legislation, Biden said any fix should include a a pathway to citizenship for farmworkers who put food on our tables.

Look, immigrants have done so much for America during this pandemic and throughout our history, he said. The country supports immigration reform. We should act. Lets argue over it, lets debate it, but lets act.

In a statement, Robert Guenther, senior vice president of policy for the United Fresh Produce Association, said thanked Biden for his recognition of the importance of immigration reform for agriculture.

By raising the importance of passing the agricultural immigration reform during his address to the nation, President Biden has made it crystal clear, that this issue which has vexed agriculture for decades, can and must be addressed immediately by the U. S. Senate in the same bipartisan manner that enabled it to pass the House of Representatives, Guenther said in the statement. United Fresh looks forward to continuing to work with the Biden administration and the Congress to have meaningful immigration reform signed into law this year.

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Biden says America is ready for takeoff, calls for immigration reform - The Packer

[Sun Gazette Newspapersprovides content to, but otherwise is unaffiliated with, InsideNoVa or Rappahannock Media LLC.]

Joussell Lopez shares a lived experience with millions of immigrants in the U.S. who have found roadblocks instead of green lights.

His story illustrates the importance of providing immigrants with a clearer path to citizenship, access to higher education, and the ability to achieve the American Dream.

Estudia para que tengas una mejor vida que nosotros. Joussell first heard these words from his father as a 13-year-old boy on the border between Mexico and Texas after having been released by U.S. Border Patrol. He was on a quest to reunite with his parents, who already were in the U.S. after fleeing civil war and poverty in Nicaragua.

Joussell became the first person in his family to receive a high-school diploma, but when he enrolled at Northern Virginia Community College, he almost had to quit several times because he had to pay out-of-state tuition a cruel and almost overwhelming burden faced by many DREAMer students like Joussell, who, in many cases, know no other home and were brought to the U.S. through no fault of their own.

To this day, he thinks about what his father said to him that day when he first stepped foot on U.S. soil. The translation is, Study so you can have a better life than ours. It is this axiom that informs his every step, in a country where despite working numerous jobs and long hours, paying taxes and receiving public education for more than a decade, he still cannot call himself a U.S. citizen, and is treated unfairly based on decisions made in his childhood that were out of his control.

When Joussell reached out to the office of Del. Alfonso Lopez (D-Arlington-Fairfax) to advocate on behalf of the Virginia Dream Act, the Equity in Financial Aid Actand the entire Virginia Dreamers Agenda, Del. Lopez says he saw a familiar face (although they are not related).

Alfonso often says that the parallels between Joussells story and his fathers are striking. Del. Lopezs father came to the U.S. from Venezuela with nothing but $260 in his pocket and the dream of better life. He worked as a busboy and waiter. He learned English. He graduated from Northern Virginia Community College when his son was 5 years old and then took one class a semester every year until he graduated from George Mason University, one month before Del. Lopez graduated from high school.

Delegate Lopez has stated, My fathers determination and hard work inspired me to choose a path of public service and use this platform to advocate for immigrants and equitable access to higher education for undocumented students who were brought to the U.S. by their parents. These amazing children are the future of our nation. They are valedictorians and class presidents. They should not be denied an opportunity for an education because of decisions made by their parents or the strictures of a broken federal immigration system.

Although Joussells and Alfonsos fathers stories are generations apart, they are not unique. Undocumented immigrants and mixed-status families across the country have had to delay or forgo a college education because of antiquated immigration laws. Many of these individuals pay taxes, work multiple jobs and benefit from American public education, but they are not afforded the same access to a college degree.

Now, the Virginia has become one of 18 states that provides hardworking immigrants with this path to the American Dream: no longer will some students have to carry the weight of balancing multiple jobs to pay for out-of-state tuition, and no longer will they be denied financial-aid eligibility.

With the passage of the American Dream and Promise Act in the U.S. House of Representatives, it is imperative that the U.S. Senate also acts to provide DREAMer students with a pathway to citizenship. The gift of liberty and the promise of a good education are the tenets of a country built by immigration.

More importantly, states do not need to wait for Congress to finally pass a comprehensive immigration reform package. Instead, it is imperative that other states pass sensible legislation like Delegate Lopezs Virginia Dream Act and the Equity in Financial Aid Act (both now enacted into law).

Such reforms provide immigrants with the tools to build a better life, and it lets states and localities continue to invest in a modern workforce of economic mobility and innovation, one that ensures the American Dream remains a reality.

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Commentary: Time to take bold action in support of DREAMers - Inside NoVA

BRUSSELS The European Union took a crucial step on Monday toward reopening its borders to vaccinated travelers after the blocs executive released a plan for allowing journeys to resume after more than a year of stringent coronavirus restrictions.

The European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, proposed that the 27 member countries reopen their borders to all travelers who have been fully vaccinated with shots approved by the blocs medicine regulator or by the World Health Organization. The commission also outlined other, looser, pandemic-related conditions that should permit people to travel.

The proposal would see more regular travel to the bloc gradually restart in time for the summer tourism season, which provides economic lifeblood for several member states. The plans are an important moment in Europes efforts to return to a semblance of normalcy after more than a year of strict limitations.

Travel from outside the bloc was halted almost entirely last spring and only restored tentatively for a handful of exceptions last summer. The measures separated families, hobbled the tourism and aviation sectors and brought business travel to an almost total halt.

The policy switch was first previewed by Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, in an interview with The New York Times last month, during which she said that vaccinated Americans should be able to visit Europe this summer. The detailed proposal laid out on Monday also confirmed Ms. von der Leyens earlier statements about the important role that the mutual recognition of vaccination certificates will play in resuming international travel.

To pass, the proposal released on Monday will require the backing of a reinforced majority of member states, which it is likely to receive late this month or in early June. Still, individual member countries retain a good deal of sovereignty around health policy, so each state will probably use that leeway to tailor the travel measures further.

For example, some countries that greatly depend on visitors for income and jobs, such as Greece and Spain, have already moved to reopen borders even before the European Union adopts any new, bloc-wide policy. Others, especially in the continents north, could maintain more stringent regulations because they dont stand to gain as much from loosened travel rules for the summer.

Given those likely differences, the commissions proposal comes in part to prevent a totally uncoordinated approach to travelers from outside the bloc.

Still, even if the proposal is adopted by E.U. countries, the changes would not necessarily mean a simple or predictable set of rules for visitors, and spontaneous travel to Europe could still be far off.

For unvaccinated travelers, the conditions in their country of origin, a negative PCR test and quarantine are likely to continue to play a deciding role in whether they can visit. But the commission has proposed that those who want to enter at least two weeks after receiving their second vaccine shot should be allowed, without testing or quarantines.

Under the plans, the bloc would also be able to quickly snap back to a near-total travel ban if a dangerous coronavirus variant were to emerge using an emergency brake mechanism.

A key piece of the puzzle for the European Union would be the mutual recognition of officially issued vaccination certificates. While the bloc is making strides in preparing a digital green pass for inoculated citizens (and has contracted companies including the logistics giant SAP to digitize vaccine cards), the United States and other countries are further behind and as yet do not offer uniform, verifiable vaccine certificates. The European Union and the United States have been involved in technical discussions on how to ensure American certificates are verifiable and acceptable in the bloc, officials said.

Addressing some major questions that aspiring visitors have raised in recent weeks, the commission said that children would not need to be vaccinated to travel to the bloc but that they could be required to show a negative test.

British visitors to the European Union, a big pool of tourists, could be counted among those able to travel more freely given the fast advancement of vaccination there. But the European Union is not yet in touch with British officials over the question of mutually recognizable vaccine certification, officials said.

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Vaccinated Tourists Could Soon Be Allowed to Visit Again, E.U. Says - The New York Times

AB Ignitis grup (hereinafter the Company) informs that on 14 April 2021 General Court of the European Union adopted a decision to annul the decision of European Commission to coordinate aid scheme for renewable energy projects implemented by the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter the Scheme).

Currently, the Companys subsidiaries UAB Vjo vatas, UAB Vjo gsis and UAB Eurakras are receiving feed-in tariffs according to the provisions of the Scheme.

Based on current market practice, after the General Court of the European Union annuls the coordinated Scheme, an in-depth investigation will be potentially launched in respect of the utilisation of the Scheme (hereinafter the Investigation), which may take several years. The Company notes that the decision to annul the decision of the European Commission to coordinate the Scheme does not constitute a negative decision on the utilisation of the Scheme in the Republic of Lithuania.

The Company is not a party of the Investigation which will be potentially launched, therefore, the Company will announce publicly about the progress of the Investigation only if the information disclosed publicly during investigation that is accessible by the Company is relevant to investors.

Based on the information currently available to the Company, the ongoing processes in respect of annulling the Scheme should not have significant effect on the financial results of the Group companies.

For more information please contact:

Artras KetleriusHead of Public Relations at Ignitis Grouparturas.ketlerius@ignitis.lt+370 620 76076

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On the decision of General Court of the European Union to - GlobeNewswire