Thread: Chief:Framingham Not Overstepping on Immigrant Arrest Prog.

Chief: Framingham not overstepping bounds of immigrant arrest program

By Liz Mineo/Daily News staff
GHS

Posted Mar 21, 2009 @ 11:39 PM
Last update Mar 23, 2009 @ 11:55 AM

A new government report said a federal program that allows state and local law enforcement officers to enforce immigration laws needs better oversight to prevent agencies from using it as an immigration dragnet.

Framingham has the only municipal police department in Massachusetts participating in the program. The other two participating agencies in Massachusetts are the state's Department of Correction and the Barnstable County's Sheriff Office.

The report released by the Government Accountability Office early this month said the program, known as 287(g), lacks internal controls to ensure participating agencies are using it within limits. It is administered by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Some agencies, the report said, have used the 287(g) authority to go after illegal immigrants who have committed minor crimes, such as speeding, urinating in public or carrying an open container of alcohol, "contrary to the objective of the program."

The program was designed to target serious crimes such as gangs and organized crime activity, human and narcotics smuggling, and money laundering, committed by removable aliens who pose a threat to public safety.

The report said ICE needs to do more to describe the program's goals to participating agencies, explain to them how to use their immigration powers, and make sure that their directives are being carried out appropriately.

Homeland Security officials agree with all the report's recommendations, said spokesman Michael Keegan, and the agency is working on putting them into effect. ICE is working on redrafting the template used to form the 287(g) agreements with law enforcement agencies in a way that include the report's recommendations, said Keegan.

As of February 2009, more than 90,000 foreigners have been arrested under the program, said
more than 90,000 foreigners have been arrested under the program, said Keegan. Asked how many of them were criminal aliens, Keegan said he didn't know.

The report mentions problems in tracking and collecting data from participating agencies and blames it on the fact that ICE has yet to define what data should be tracked and how it should be collected and reported. If ICE communicates to its partners what data should be collected, this could help determine whether the program is reaching its goals, said the report.

Records reviewed by GAO researchers didn't show any arrests in Massachusetts under the program, said Richard Stana, director of Homeland Security and Justice at the Government Accountability Office.

There are other problems as well. ICE doesn't keep information on how many of those arrested were criminal aliens, said Stana.

Three of them were arrested by Framingham police.

Two of the men were Brazilian natives Marcilei Caetano, 24, and Joelson G. Fonseca, 21, both formerly of Framingham. Police said Caetano and Fonseca were local members of a violent gang. The third man was Bruno Cesar DeOliveira, 19, who was arrested in Framingham on drug charges. He was deported to Brazil, where he was later murdered.

For Framingham Police Chief Steven Carl, the three arrests under the program highlight his efforts to use the program's authority as it was intended.

"It's only limited to violent crimes," said Carl. "It's not a model for administrative deportations. We just don't use it for minor offenses. We just don't do that."

Framingham Police's use of 287(g) program is 100 percent in line with the GAO recommendations, said Carl.

"It reinforces what we're doing in Framingham," he said. "I find it refreshing that we are using the program in the appropriate fashion."

By comparison, the Maricopa County Sheriff Office in Arizona made more than 13,000 arrests in 2008, and the Orange County Sheriff Office in California, more than 4,000 arrests in the same year. The Department of Justice has opened an investigation into Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio over allegations of discriminatory practices and unconstitutional searches and seizures.

For Jessica Vaughan, director of policy at the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Immigration Studies, a group that favor limits on immigration, the report raised more questions than answers.

Though she agreed with the report's recommendations, she noted it failed to acknowledge the program's role as a police force multiplier for ICE and its cost savings effects.

Between 2006 and 2008, ICE spent $60 million on the program, which helped identify 90,000 aliens for removal, she said. Last year, ICE spent $219 million in removing 34,000 aliens.

"It saves everybody's money," said Vaughan.

As for how Framingham is using the program, Vaughan had some concerns. She worries whether the police are not doing more due to fears of alienating the immigrant community.

"There are significant crimes related to illegal immigration such as gang activity, drug trafficking and fraudulent document rings," she said. "But I understand that for political reasons, they cannot be overly aggressive with it."

Carl said the GAO report makes him feel comfortable by the way his department is using the 287(g) program. "Framingham should be a national model," he said.

In August 2007, when the Framingham Police signed an agreement to take part in the program, local immigrant advocates decried it saying it could turn police into an arm of ICE.

The report analyzed data provided by ICE for 25 of the 29 program participants. As of 2008, there were 67 agencies participating in the program and 951 state and local law enforcement officers trained nationwide.

To read the report, go to www.gao.gov/new.items/d09109.pdf.
(this appears in the article, but I cannot make the link work.)

Staff writer Liz Mineo can be reached at 508-626-3825 or lmineo@cnc.com.

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/ ... st-program

The law is the law. Breaking into a country is illegal. Use that 287g Program to deport all law breaking illegals.

If the Gov't wants to save our tax dollars enforce our immigration laws and stop the Anchor baby scam.