Rogers, Springdale Models On Immigration Enforcement Makes Contrast

By Doug Thompson
The Morning News
FAYETTEVILLE -- Whether local police should pursue illegal immigration cases on their own or wait until a suspect is arrested for breaking local laws was the longest-debated topic of a televised forum on immigration Tuesday night.

Local television station KHOG 40/29 and The Morning News cooperated in a series of reports that culminated in a forum at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the University of Arkansas student union theater. The forum was broadcast live.

"If we'd had a 287(g) program in place, Daniel Ray Francis would be alive today," Rogers Mayor Steve Womack said of the 32-year-old Fayetteville man killed in a "road rage" shooting in Lowell in 2006. Two men and one woman were charged in the shooting, including one residing in the country illegally. The 287(g) program of the federal Department of Homeland Security trains local police to enforce immigration law.

There are two options in the program. One trains police to determine legal residency after an arrest for breaking local law. The other allows police to enforce immigration law on their own. Springdale has chosen to train three officers for the "detention" option of investigating status after an arrest because it reduces the risk of an improper arrest, Springdale Police Chief Kathy O'Kelley said. Rogers is pursuing the other option.

There's "no way that somebody with six weeks training -- not even if it was six weeks a year -- can make determinations on somebody's legal status," said panel member Frank Head Jr., spokesman for Catholic Charities, which assists immigrants. Head has dealt with the issue for years "and I still call our lawyers half the time," he said.

In one example Head related, a woman who was in the country legally was cited for having a burned-out tail light on her car. When questioned about her residency, she gave her maiden name instead of her married name to authorities. Since the name she gave was not the one listed in government databases, she spent the night in jail and amassed $5,000 in legal fees to keep from being deported "because legally resident aliens are not eligible for public defenders," he said.

Whether Rogers could, in theory, pursue a more aggressive stance on immigration or not, it gave up that option in a settlement of an earlier racial profiling lawsuit, said panel member Jim Miranda of Bella Vista, a community activist.

About 50 people attended the invitation-only forum. Other panelists were: Kathy Deck, an economist at the university; Sen. Dave Bisbee, R-Rogers; and Rick Schaffer, spokesman for the Springdale School District. Topics addressed included immigration's economic impact and education.

"I thought it was staged," said Jeff Burch, a drywall contractor interviewed for The Morning News series who attended the forum. "I didn't think they actually addressed the issues from the point of view of the people who are working. I'm the one getting put out of business. Tonight, I heard more politicians and bigwigs saying the same things I've heard before."

State Rep. Jon Woods, R-Springdale, said the 30-minute forum did not provide enough time for a meaningful discussion.

Sarah Faitak of Fayetteville said she thought the discussion on the different options in the 287(g) program was the most interesting part of the discussion. She said Womack's use of the Francis case undermined the point he was trying to make. The person found to be in the country illegally, by Womack's admission, had been pulled over and arrested before, she said. Therefore, the approach being used in Springdale would have had the same effect, she said.

Rey Hernandez, president of Council 754 of the League of United Latin American Citizens, said most people in the country illegally are the children and wives of workers who are in the county legally, and the laws should not "make criminals out of children who were brought here by their parents." He also said that it was wrong to "tell someone 'I want your labor, but I don't want your family.'"

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