Illinois officials ask out of federal immigration program.

BY HANNAH HESS Posted: Wednesday, April 13, 2011 12:10 am

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. • A federal immigration enforcement program designed to secure communities from the "worst of the worst" offenders also is snaring those arrested for minor crimes, prompting some Illinois officials to rethink the state's involvement.

In the Metro East, as well as Chicago, anyone who enters a county jail is fingerprinted, then the person's records are cross-checked for immigration status. Under the program, local jails hold those who are illegal immigrants until they are taken into federal custody.

"We just process them through the local charge, then (U.S. marshals) pick them up," said Madison County Sheriff Bob Hertz. "They'll be headed some place on a federal charge at that point."

The immigrants taken into federal custody could be violent offenders, but immigrant rights groups decry the fact that 32 percent of the people put into deportation proceedings in Illinois — including all eight of the individuals booked in the Metro East — had no prior criminal record, here or abroad.

Opponents of the program claim that under harsh enforcement, a minor traffic violation could send an illegal immigrant into deportation proceedings.

"That person wasn't sent out of this country because they robbed a bank, or because they dealt drugs, or because they were a weapons runner," said Kane County Sheriff Pat Perez. "They were sent out of this country because they didn't have a valid drivers license and they were here illegally."

Perez is asking the Legislature to grant Kane County permission to opt out of the federal program.

Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn's office has expressed support for a proposal that would give all 26 counties currently sharing information with immigration enforcement officials the option to back out of their commitment.

Democratic members of an Illinois House committee approved the measure last week, but it will likely face strong opposition from the state's GOP.

"The fact is, these individuals have still broken the law as it pertains to the state of Illinois," said state Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, during a heated committee debate that centered on racial profiling and immigration reform.

Metro East law enforcement officials said the program, which began in 2009, has been an effective tool for getting dangerous criminals off the streets and out of the country.

Capt. Steve Johnson, a 22-year veteran of the St. Clair County Sheriff's Department, said Secure Communities has opened up a line of communication with the federal government that was previously out of the county's reach.

"We weren't connected to the computers and we didn't have the communication," said Johnson. "We literally were just blinded to whether this person was a terrorist, or whether they were someone who's hiding out in this country who doesn't belong here."

Madison County authorities are also pleased to be sharing fingerprints with the federal government, Hertz said.

This week, he estimated that a dozen of the 273 people in his jail, roughly 5 percent, had been detained by immigration officials.

"My personal belief is that people that aren't United States citizens should be dealt with," Hertz said. "We don't go out there and try to figure out who's not a United States citizen."

Racial profiling is not the goal of the program, Hertz said. Instead, he added, it establishes a secure process for checking the immigration status of every person arrested.

State Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, who voted no on the legislation in committee said that sheriffs statewide have the responsibility to uphold federal commitments, regardless of their personal beliefs about immigration policy.

"When our sheriffs take an oath of office, they take an oath to uphold the laws of the state of Illinois, the federal Constitution and the Constitution of the state of Illinois," Bost said. "They don't get to select whether it's civil or criminal — it's the law. Based on that, they should stay in the program and fulfill the requirements of the program."
The bill is HB929.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt ... 30172.html