In recent months there has been a crime wave on East Broadway in Chinatown, which has generated much concern in the community. In a meeting between residents and the 7th Police Precinct last week, Ga-Wah Liu, in charge of community affairs, urged more people to cooperate with the police to help solve crimes.

At that point Liu was asked about Zhang Qua, a Fujianese who assisted the police in a murder investigation but was then handed over to Homeland Security by the police.

Liu explained that having illegal status was not a crime and that ninety-nine percent of the time the victim or the witness, even though illegal, were not be sent to Homeland Security. He insisted that Zhang was a special case.

The police had picked up Zhang in Chinatown, while investigating a murder. They brought him back to the precinct. The personal information he gave was false. When the police digged deeper they found that he had a deportation order from 1997.

According to the police they could not ignore the fact of his deportation order. So when they found him unrelated to the murder case, they sent him over to Homeland Security.

Liu insisted that Zhang’s affair was only a special case and could not be compared to other cases.

He emphasized that victims and witnesses in criminal cases would not be investigated for their immigration status unless they were directly involved in the criminal cases. Citizens, with good records, should not be afraid to assist the police with evidence and tips. Furthermore, other information would be kept confidential.

Regarding the Bloomberg Executive Order Thirty-Four, Liu emphasized that the police would not ask anyone any immigration information, and that person was also not required to respond.

On the other hand Liu did say that all government agencies have tightened up security in order to combat terrorist organizations and prevent attacks. Any one who was suspicious could become the a target of investigation.

Last month, many organizations active in civil liberties and immigrant rights, politicians and media representatives had strongly protested Mayor Bloomberg’s Executive Order 34. Councilman Hiram Monserrat believed that this order did not sufficiently protect the privacy of immigrants and could even harm illegal immigrants.

The immigration order says that government personnel need not ask for the immigration status of New Yorkers and that the residents had the right to not respond to questions. However, within the city government, there was the power to turn immigration information over to Homeland Security.

Marge McHugh, the Executive Director of New York’s Immigration Federation, says that the executive order is terrible, because the order does not prohibit government agencies from internally transferring information on immigrants. She was afraid that many immigrants would face trouble, and many people afraid of being detained or deported because of their immigration status, would refuse to report crime to the police or seek help from the many agencies of the government.