http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4103945.html




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HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Houston & Texas

Aug. 9, 2006, 11:00AM



'Sanctuary' foes rip city over petition
Deadline to get referendum on HPD immigration policy on ballot called arbitrary
By MATT STILES
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

Time is running out on a citizens group's attempt to change the Houston Police Department's policy on illegal immigrants, and it's unlikely it can get a referendum before voters this fall, City Attorney Arturo Michel said Tuesday.

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The group Protect Our Citizens wants voters to change the city charter and allow police officers to inquire about the citizenship status of people they encounter, reversing what backers call a "sanctuary" policy toward illegal immigrants.

To do that, the group needs 20,000 signatures from Houston voters, validated by City Secretary Anna Russell, and approval of the referendum by City Council. That all has to happen before Aug. 28.

The problem, Michel said, is with the calendar, not opposition by Mayor Bill White and Police Chief Harold Hurtt, both of whom strongly object to the "sanctuary" label.

"It just doesn't seem that it could be on the ballot for November," he said.

After today, there are only two council meetings remaining before the cutoff date. The measure almost certainly would be delayed a week by a parliamentary procedure known as a "tag." The eventual vote, then, wouldn't come until after Aug. 28, he said.

To get the measure to the council in time, the signatures would need Russell's validation by Friday. She said that isn't possible, particularly since the group has not yet turned in its petition.

Protect Our Citizens organizers blasted the city's position Tuesday, pledging to fight to get the measure before voters this fall.

Founder Mary Williams said Michel "set an arbitrary date from a vaguely worded law to their benefit and not ours. ... However, he has the gun to our heads and we'll do the best that we can."

If the group's members, who were furiously counting and validating signatures Tuesday, cannot get the measure on the November ballot, she said they would fight White's attempts this year to change a revenue-cap provision in the city charter.

"That's the only option they've given us if we want to fight back," she said.

At issue is a 1992 police department general order that prohibits officers from asking people who aren't under arrest about their citizenship status. The order also prohibits them from arresting people solely based on suspicion that they are in the country illegally.

Protect Our Citizens leaders say the policy is a symbolic message to illegal immigrants that Houston is a haven.

The group's charter amendment, if approved, would preclude the city from obstructing police officers' ability to ask about and verify citizenship status and refer illegal immigrants to federal authorities.

U.S. Rep. John Culberson, R-Houston, has proposed legislation that would cut off federal law enforcement funding to so-called sanctuary cities.

Culberson said last month that Houston is on that list, contradicting the region's top federal immigration enforcement official, Bob Rutt, special agent in charge of the Houston office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Rutt has said that Houston is not a sanctuary city and that police cooperate well with ICE agents.

Police, already stretched from an officer shortage amid a recent rise in some violent crimes, and other city officials have said they don't have the resources or legal authority to enforce immigration laws.

"This group was approaching the subject the wrong way. They should direct their energy toward members of Congress, those who have a direct say and oversight over immigration reform," said Councilwoman Carol Alvarado, a vocal opponent of the group's efforts.

Further, police say, performing such tasks would erode trust in the officers trying to get cooperation from immigrant communities in order to solve crimes.

Police say they do ask people arrested for serious misdemeanors and felonies about their status; those they believe to be illegal immigrants are flagged for later jail interviews with agents from ICE.

Police said they also turn over anyone flagged in criminal databases as wanted by immigration agents.

matt.stiles@chron.com




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