Thread: CA: Deportation splits 'city with a heart'

Monday, December 17, 2007
Deportation splits 'city with a heart'
Two Orange County police agencies have become national leaders in deporting illegal immigrants accused of crimes. But the results are not exactly as advertised.
By TONY SAAVEDRA and NORBERTO SANTANA Jr.
The Orange County Register
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Social tolerance was once the hallmark of Costa Mesa, a place where bowls of free soup awaited the poor just as racks of designer shoes awaited the well-heeled.

The home of South Coast Plaza was also home to a city Human Relations Committee, a job center and a decades-long history of helping the poor, whether immigrant or native-born. The late county supervisor Tom Riley dubbed Costa Mesa "the city with a heart."

The soup kitchen is still there. But the Human Relations Committee and the job center are gone, jettisoned by Mayor Allan Mansoor and his allies on the council after being too sympathetic to illegal immigrants.

The city's new legacy is its aggressive stance against illegal immigration, including the use of city police to identify undocumented immigrants among crime suspects.

Costa Mesa is not the first local agency to partner with immigration agents. Police in Florida and Alabama have been doing so since 2003. In California, jail-check programs vary from checking the status of convicted felons – that's what Los Angeles County does – to checking everyone in the jail – that's what Orange County started doing just one month after Costa Mesa.

Costa Mesa's program has brought more controversy than others because city police check not only jail inmates, but minor offenders on the street – like jaywalkers and disorderly drinkers – who are not able to provide identification.

"Disorderly conduct itself isn't necessarily the most dangerous crime, but nevertheless, it is a crime," Mansoor said. "It's really cut and dried – we're trying to uphold the law."

The Register analyzed jail records, Superior Court records and crime data to determine exactly what happened during the first months of both programs:

•The sheriff's program snared 2,874 illegal immigrants between April and October, 60 percent of them (1,717) accused of felonies. Among those tagged: 45 people accused of homicide, 66 accused of robbery and 64 accused of child molestation. One 22-year-old reputed gang member was accused of participating in the killing of two 14-year-old boys.

•Costa Mesa flagged 289 illegal immigrants between December 2006 and June, 11 percent of the total arrests. Thirty-nine percent of those on ICE hold (112) were accused of felonies. Costa Mesa didn't find any killers in that period, but one man was arrested for child molestation and four were arrested for strong-arm robbery. Police arrested 177 for misdemeanors or infractions, including 44 picked up for driving under the influence, 32 for being drunk in public and 29 for driving without a valid license. On Thursday, Costa Mesa released figures showing 520 deportable immigrants were picked up during the full year.

•Many of those caught in Orange County's net were small-time offenders: drug abusers, drunk drivers, probation violators, people no more criminal than the celebrities festooning supermarket tabloids. Three-fourths of those nabbed in Costa Mesa during the first six months had never before been charged with a crime in Orange County. Twenty were arrested on cases so marginal that they were rejected by the District Attorney's Office or not even presented in the first place.

•The Register was unable to identify any effect on crime in Costa Mesa, despite supporters' firmly-held belief that the city is safer now.

That may not matter to many county residents.

"If they've committed a crime, there should be no recourse, appeal or anything. They should be gone," said Barbara Coe, chairwoman of the Huntington Beach-based California Coalition for Immigration Reform.

"I think we have enough homegrown criminals. We need not import more."

Deputizing local police

The law that allows federal immigration officials to deputize local police as immigration officers dates to 1996, shortly after the first World Trade Center bombing. Under the program, known as 287g, the federal government also reimburses local agencies for most of the costs of jailing illegal immigrants.

Florida and Alabama were the first to sign up, in 2003. Today, more than 26 agencies in 12 states are participating.

Last December, after extensive lobbying by Mayor Mansoor, ICE stationed an immigration agent full time at the Costa Mesa jail. In January, sheriff's deputies trained by ICE began conducting checks on inmates at the county jail, the product of years of lobbying by Sheriff Mike Carona.

"We're now actively involved in screening 100 percent of the people that are coming through," Carona said. Federal officials confirm his claim that Orange County is turning over more inmates for deportation than any jail in the country.

In initial interviews, deputies ask about prior convictions, gang affiliations and citizenship, and decide which inmates merit a second check for immigration status. From there, inmates are referred to a deputy who has completed a four-week ICE training session.

The deputy asks about parents' surnames, place of birth and citizenship. He checks federal immigration and criminal databases. Depending on the answers, he generates an "ICE hold" that is sent to the federal immigration agency. Those with holds are picked up by ICE at the end of their sentences.

Costa Mesa's program is slightly different: An ICE agent is stationed full time at the Costa Mesa jail.

Carona said his program is catching "career criminals."

Mansoor said his is nabbing "major offenders."

That's true – to a point.

Records indicate that Costa Mesa officers are mostly bringing in minor offenders, many of whom are simply unable to provide identification – such as Abimael Ludin Sanchez, caught sleeping in his car, and Marcelino Tzir, caught riding his bicycle on the wrong side of the street.

Both were turned over for deportation.

Costa Mesa Police Chief Christopher Shawkey defended the policing efforts, saying the city program treats all offenders equally, regardless if they are petty criminals or dangerous felons. To do otherwise would be biased, Shawkey said.

"I'm not making any claim it will reduce crime. It is what it is," he said. "Can they come back? Sure, they can get back here."

Some feel the program is inherently destructive and divisive, with no real value if deportees can return.

"It's fracturing the community," said Jean Forbath, a social activist who founded the Costa Mesa charity Share Our Selves. "The future of Costa Mesa and Orange County and all America is to accept each other. This program does not create communities."

But many voters sided with Mansoor during the 2006 election. He received 26 percent of the council vote, highest of any candidate, and his ally, Wendy Leece, got 24 percent.

"To me, there is no excuse for breaking the law," said Ernie Feeney, a grandmother who lives in north Costa Mesa. "If you break the law and an officer stops you, you've got to produce identification."

A question of tactics

Mansoor, an Orange County sheriff's deputy, was first elected to the Costa Mesa council in 2002. He soon collected the support of Jim Gilchrist, founder of the Minuteman Project, a civilian border watch group. In addition to the council seat, Mansoor's campaign to crack down on illegal immigrants propelled the Costa Mesa debate onto the national airwaves. Gilchrist made Mansoor an honorary Minuteman.

The Register's analysis of those roped in by the Orange County and Costa Mesa jail checks quickly became a litmus test for law enforcement experts on both sides of the issue.

Orange County sheriff's officials agreed they caught a lot of folks who weren't necessarily dangerous. One Costa Mesa police official confirmed that they probably weren't changing crime statistics. But both agencies say those are the realities of law enforcement.

"It isn't fair to categorize criminals," said Lt. Roland Chacon, who supervises the sheriff's jail-check program. "A petty thief may just be a petty thief to some. But if he's stealing my stereo or is a petty drug dealer, I don't want (him) in my neighborhood. Would you want him in your neighborhood?"

James Hayes, Los Angeles director of Detention and Removal for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, agreed, saying small offenses, such as driving without a license, can be the first step toward major crime.

"They're going to go from not being licensed to not having insurance, to getting into accidents, to not being able to find a job, because of all those factors combined, because they're dependent on drugs, they're dependent on alcohol, and they're going to be thieves, then they're going to be rapists, then they're going to be murderers. That's the progression," Hayes said.

"I'd rather get them immediately and get them out of the country."

On the other side are law enforcers who see snaring immigrants for low-level crimes as costly and counterproductive.

"If you're deporting and removing everybody from a shoplifter to a murderer, you're creating a situation where it's much more difficult for law enforcement to focus on the serious cases," said Doris Meisner, who ran the Immigration and Naturalization Service during the Clinton administration.

The police chiefs in Huntington Beach and Santa Ana, the cities on either side of Costa Mesa, say local police should only be questioning dangerous criminals about their immigration status.

Anything else could result in immigrants becoming afraid to call police when a crime occurs or afraid to testify when they see a crime.

"There's millions of undocumented people in California; I've met many of them," said Huntington Beach Police Chief Ken Small.

"Most of them are good, hard-working people."

A safer city?

Nearly all the people placed on ICE hold in Costa Mesa were arrested in the same Westside neighborhood. Police logs indicate that 362 major crimes were reported in that neighborhood during the first six months of the immigration program. The same number was reported during the same period the previous year.

Citywide crime had fallen by 11 percent the year before the immigration program began Dec. 5, 2006. The crime stats fell another 4.7 percent citywide during the first six months of the program.

Costa Mesa Capt. Ron Smith said the number of people flagged for deportation in his city was probably too small to statistically affect crime.

"It's a little drop in a bigger bucket," he said.

Former Costa Mesa Police Chief Dave Snowden said the city never had a big problem with immigrant criminals in the first place.

"The argument was there were all these hard-core felons," said Snowden, who now heads the Beverly Hills Police Department. "Where are the hard-core felons?"

Costa Mesa Councilwoman Katrina Foley, who voted against the immigration checks in her city, isn't sure that anti-immigration folks are necessarily focused on making the streets safer.

"At the end of the day, we should just be honest on it," Foley said. "If the crime is just being here, then the program is having an impact on crime. But I think many of our violent crimes are by citizens."

Even Carona, who sometimes brags about the success of his jail-check program, expresses some doubt that local agencies can make much of a difference on such a complex problem.

Questioned at a citizens forum in June, Carona surprised some of his supporters.

"In my opinion, it's an absolute waste of taxpayers' dollars the way we're going about it right now," he said. "I wouldn't talk about (catching) illegals; I'd talk about creating guest workers … and then I'm not getting into somebody else's life about why they're in this country."

Register reporters Jeff Overley and Niyaz Pirani contributed to this report.

Contact the writer: 714-796-6930 or tsaavedra@ocregister.coM

Article Comments:

nomasillegals wrote:
Without a secured border, deportations are almost pointless, as the deported just come right back in. The very first step to halting illegal immigration is to build a fence and hire more border patrol agents.
12/17/2007 5:43 AM PST on OCRegister.com
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CindyLooWho wrote:
As far as I am concerned the fact that they are here ILLEGALLY says it all. Mexico would toss out an American in their country as soon as look at us. The 'work guest' thing is totally bogus because IF they really wanted to WORK, they would have come here the right way. I don't care if they got picked up for spitting on the sidewalk, deport them. California is just way to liberal, and completely off the mark. I think the cost to tax payers for leeping them in prison far outweighs the costs of deporting them. Add on the strain of MY tax dollars for all the kids from illegals born here so the parent or parents have duel citizenship is an absolute joke. I am from the east coast. I think once CA experiences their own version of 9/11 they might wake up. While I believe America was once the haven to come to, to all other countries we are a joke now. This is so simple its sickening. If they came here ILLEGALY they broke the law of OUR land. End of story. Stop with the bleeding heart stuff already!
12/17/2007 5:40 AM PST on OCRegister.com
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Superiorsir wrote:
If the illegal immigrants are good, hardworking people, why did they break the law to get and stay here? Good, hardworking people don't break laws. Working hard doesn't equate with righteousness. A bank robber can 'work hard' by spending the night drilling through a bank wall to get to a safe; a car thief can 'work hard' to steal a dozen cars in a night...none of this hard work overrides the fact that they're breaking the law.
12/17/2007 5:13 AM PST on OCRegister.com
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bpsqwerty wrote:
Doris Meisner also makes it pretty obvious that the Clinton administration played a huge part, perhaps the biggest statistically, getting us into this mess. thanks a lot, gang.
12/17/2007 3:42 AM PST on OCRegister.com
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bpsqwerty wrote:
I'm sure there are hard-core felons or at least occassional offenders of big time crimes. even if not, the small crimes all add up to a larger problem. so that argument doesn't even hold water. people like Snowden, Meisner and Ken Small simply don't get it and refuse to listen to what the people want and what our society is crying out for to help get things back on the right track. certainly the problem of our tax base not even being able to supply the needed funding for existing programs and services due to illegal immigration is the most pressing one.

I greatly appreciate this program and the likes of Hayes, Chacon, and Shawkey who are doing the right thing that the huge majority of citizenship wants to be done.
12/17/2007 3:39 AM PST on OCRegister.com
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biscuitsrgood wrote:
Spaceman,
You don't like to pay for them here but you want to pay to get rid of them. Its not cheap to pay the enforcer to get them. The detainer to hold them. The bus driver or pilot to transport them. And the border guard to keep them out. Your attitude is one of a nativist which is common since the good ol US has been around. There are A LOT more issues concerning immigrants than there use of resources and there will never be a simple solution to the issue. My suggestion is to add logical solutions and remedies that can benefit society. Not shock jock slander that causes hate and criticism.
12/17/2007 3:31 AM PST on OCRegister.com
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spaceman wrote:
Get Rid of them and send them back to where they came from.
Remember THEY ARE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS or are you forgetting. Why should they live here for free get the legal documents and than have the good live in the USA otherwise good bye and have a nice life. I'm tired of feeding your families and everything else.
12/17/2007 3:20 AM PST on OCRegister.com
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http://www.ocregister.com/news/costa-me ... on-police#

The social activist says we, the American people need to "share ourselves" with criminal illegal aliens? She's out of her mind.

This is reminding me a lot of what has been happening in Irving, Texas.

People complaining about illegals being deported for minor infractions. At least in California, it seems there are enough ICE agents to handle it. Here in Texas, ICE has now refused to handle deportations for "minor" infractions.

One thing the article did not mention was, not only are illegals driving without a license and driving without insurance, they are illegally obtaining REAL inspection stickers for their cars (real car repair shops run a sideline business of giving inspection stickers for $300, although there was never any inspection made on the car --- I know of someone who did this, due to not being able to afford the repairs to their car to get a clean inspection report. I would have reported the shop, but it was completed through a car dealership middle man, so he never knew who actually gave out the sticker.) So, law breaking leads to more and more law breaking. All the "little" crimes add up!!!

I want our taxpayer money to go for MORE ICE agents to handle ALL the deportations and illegal reports to ICE!!!

TexasGal

Finally! By working with ICE to deport these people, the 'city with a heart' is showing heartfelt compassion for American citizens instead of foreign invaders!!

Costa Mesa Police Chief Christopher Shawkey defended the policing efforts, saying the city program treats all offenders equally, regardless if they are petty criminals or dangerous felons. To do otherwise would be biased, Shawkey said.

I like it.. Like rowdy drunks yelling at women and drunk drivers should allowed to stay and abuse us more, it's their right :P How the h@ll do illegals get probation? We rehabilitate illegal aliens Can't they go home for their rehabilitation? Are legal aliens allowed probation too?

Well since we all know their bleeding heart tactic's was not working, I'd say it is time to try something different as Califorians do not deserve what has been happening to them and their towns. Arrest , deport and stop the insanity.

It doesn't matter how big your heart is, or how deeply you feel compassion. Sooner or later the illegals will push you to your breaking point.

It's too overwhelming. We're inundated with a seemingly endless stampede of needy illegal aliens coming into this country. And then we're burdened with an inordinately high number of births to illegal aliens.

How on earth is any country supposed to remain compassionate and charitable when faced with the daunting task of managing tens of millions of poor flooding into their cities??

NO country could do it. And you will see such a huge shift in attitude as city after city after city starts to feel the unbearable weight of the illegal invasion.

It's only a matter of time.

Costa Mesa isn't too far from where I currently reside. Seems like a good thing to me -- commit a crime while being an illegal, get deported and go to jail (not necessarily in that order). I'd only like to make sure that people who commit serious crimes while being illegal should NEVER be given a chance to become citizens.

Anything else could result in immigrants becoming afraid to call police when a crime occurs or afraid to testify when they see a crime.

They're already afraid to call the police. How many of them call the police to report crime now?
And now DUI is considered a small offense? How many people who are members of ALIPAC alone have had family members and/or friends killed by illegal alien drunk drivers? It's not minor if you never see your loved one again just so some illegal who is used to living in a place where drunk driving is considered "normal" can get drunk, drive around and kill someone. First offense? So what? If left alone they could kill your baby, my baby...and this is minor? Same goes for the illegal alien drug addicts. They aren't just hurting themselves. How long can they afford this habit that gets bigger and more expensive until they "have to" commit crimes to support it? (But don't tell me, their illegal alien friends and family will call the police to report a crime when they hear this person is snatching purses, stealing cars, mugging, robbing houses etc so they can pay for their drugs - as long as they don't have to be afraid they might also be arrested/deported ) I don't think so. They haven't in the past before the deportations became more common, and they won't now, because their loyalty is to their own kind, not to the police or law abiding innocent citizens