Thread: CO-Ritter weighs civil rights vs. enforcement

Ritter weighs civil rights vs. enforcement in system that flags jailed illegal immigrants
By Tim Hoover

Posted: 08/01/2010 01:00:00 AM MDT

More than a year after a special panel recommended the state adopt a federal system to weed out illegal immigrants among people booked into jail, Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter is still considering whether to join the program.

Ritter's uncertainty about the Secure Communities program comes even as the city of Denver has been preparing to implement the system in the event the state signs on. El Paso and Arapahoe counties also want to use the system, which matches fingerprints of people booked into jail against a database of prints maintained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, identifying those who have been detained or deported before or who have had other contact with immigration authorities.

At an appearance in Denver on Friday, the Democratic governor gave little indication about whether he would sign an agreement with ICE to use the system.

"I'm doing my work, which is investigating — both listening to the input from people who are critical of it but also having discussions with ICE about whether we can have a meeting of the minds," Ritter said, "and I have no more to say right now and have made no decision."

Push to join system

State Sen. Dave Schultheis, R-Colorado Springs, a longtime advocate of tougher immigration laws, wondered what Ritter was waiting for.

"I believe this is just a stalling tactic for probably some political reason," Schultheis said. "If you ask 70 percent of the population what they believe, there's no question they would say, 'Sign the damn thing.' "

Ron Perea, Denver's manager of safety, said city officials have been involved in discussions about the program with Ritter's office for months. Perea said the city is getting ready for the program despite the state not having signed an agreement with ICE yet.

"We are the capital. I believe Denver should lead by example," Perea said. "This is just another tool for law enforcement to use. It doesn't require police officers to go out and enforce immigration. They do their normal, routine jobs."

Perea said city officials also have been reaching out to community groups in an effort to ease their concerns over the system.

"The fact that everyone who's arrested and booked is printed regardless of race or ethnicity — the identification is based on biometrics — that greatly diminishes any kind of racial-profiling issues that could arrive," he said.

Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson said he has been asking the state for more than a year to allow his county to be in the program.

"It's a good idea because it's efficient," Robinson said. "It will allow my deputies to access nine different databases relative to an individual's immigration status."

And only people booked into jail are screened against the system, he said, adding, "There's no focus on biased-based policing or anything of that nature."

Robinson said he estimated any extra costs to his department as a result of ICE-ordered holds on inmates to be negligible. The illegal immigrants already must serve jail time for crimes they commit before they are released to federal custody, he said.

Reservations voiced

Critics of the Secure Communities system say it will result in less-safe communities as illegal immigrants become afraid to report crimes.

"If ICE really wants to pursue dangerous criminals, then they should create a program that does that, not one that creates an indiscriminate dragnet," said Hans Meyer, policy coordinator for the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition.

CIRC, along with Latino and civil-rights groups, has been meeting with Ritter about its concerns. Ritter's office said it wants to give the issue a full vetting before signing any agreement with ICE.

And if Colorado signs, it would likely ask for a special agreement to address its concerns, Ritter officials said, which include transparency of information, the potential for false identifications and the ability of local communities to opt out of the system.

The Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police has expressed support for the system, with some reservations, including that any system take into account domestic-violence situations, where victims could become too frightened to talk to police.

"The governor by all indications looks like he wants to enter into this (agreement), but at the same time he looks like he wants to make sure there are some protections afforded to people here in Colorado," said Joseph Salazar, a civil-rights attorney and chairman of the policy committee for the Colorado Latino Forum.

Salazar's group, which has been closely involved in discussions with Ritter's office, is critical of the federal system.

"The Latino community is concerned about securing our communities," he said, "but what we're also concerned about is racial profiling."

Supporters of the Secure Communities program say there's less chance of racial profiling under the system because everyone who is booked into a jail is automatically matched against the ICE database.

But Salazar said Latinos are more likely to find themselves detained longer by authorities who suspect they are illegal immigrants even if they are not ultimately booked into jail.

According to ICE, 467 jurisdictions in 26 states have signed on to the Secure Communities program since it started in October 2008.

Program's impact

In that time, 46,929 illegal immigrants have been deported under the program. Of those, 9,831 had been convicted of "level one" offenses, defined by the program as violent crimes such as rape, aggravated assault, sex offenses, kidnapping and drug offenses carrying a sentence of more than a year.

Another 19,134 were convicted of "level two" offenses that included arson, burglary, fraud, forgery, money laundering and drug offenses carrying a sentence under one year. Meanwhile, there were 5,671 deportees convicted of "level three" crimes that included property damage, family offenses, prostitution, liquor offenses, bribery and other lesser crimes.

There were 12,293 people deported who were booked into jails but not ultimately convicted of a crime, ICE officials said.

"What's changed is the makeup of the people we are removing," said Richard Rocha, deputy press secretary for ICE. "We are removing more convicted criminal aliens than ever before."

Through June of this year, 50 percent of the people ICE deported had criminal convictions, compared with 35 percent the prior year and 31 percent the year before that.

Meyer said that if the governor signs on to the program, immigration-rights groups want to make sure that the system is aimed only at people with "level one" offenses, that there are protections for witnesses and victims, and that local communities can opt out if they want.

"Secure Communities is akin to swatting at flies with baseball bats," he said. "It may catch a few flies, but it will destroy far more lives and relationships in our communities than it is ever going to secure."

The immigration task force Ritter appointed in 2008 recommended the state participate in the Secure Communities system, which had just started. The task force was formed after the case of Francis Hernandez, an illegal immigrant who was driving a truck that killed three people in Aurora in 2008. Hernandez had been arrested 16 times but never deported.

However, as ICE officials confirmed, the Secure Communities program would not have caught Hernandez, a 23-year- old man who emigrated from Guatemala as a child. ICE had no fingerprint records for Hernandez, who used multiple aliases and claimed various places of birth.


http://www.denverpost.com/frontpage/ci_15650615

Critics of the Secure Communities system say it will result in less-safe communities as illegal immigrants become afraid to report crimes.

I am sick and tired of this worn out excuse! Who really gives a crap about illegal communities? The people who might report the crime aren't getting deported even if they are illegal! IMHO even the so called victims should be investigated, but they aren't... so where is the problem? I mean really, where is the problem?

Originally Posted by nomas

Critics of the Secure Communities system say it will result in less-safe communities as illegal immigrants become afraid to report crimes.

I am sick and tired of this worn out excuse! Who really gives a crap about illegal communities? The people who might report the crime aren't getting deported even if they are illegal! IMHO even the so called victims should be investigated, but they aren't... so where is the problem? I mean really, where is the problem?

I am so sick of it too!! I was watching a movie yesterday based on a true story called Freedom Writer's. The Latino girl in the class had to testify at her dad's trial because she was a witness to him killing a man. She was coached by her family what to say and what not to say. Her conscience got the better of her and she told the truth, that she had seen her dad shoot this man. After she testified she had to leave her home and some of her dad's latino friends came after her.

I think it has nothing to do with their fear of getting deported as it does that they don't want to turn in their fellow Aztlan clan. You know, La Raza..All for the race..you know the rest..

If I could talk face to face with one of these idiots using this lame argument the first question I would ask:

"What is the acceptable number of American lives lost to IAs in your opinion? Is it 1 for every 1000 IAs ignored? Is it 1 for every 500? Perhaps 1 in 100? Just where do YOU draw the line?"

If my son came to me and asked to attend a gathering of 1000 where it was sure that 1 would die would I give him my consent to go? HE11 NO!

Originally Posted by nomas

Critics of the Secure Communities system say it will result in less-safe communities as illegal immigrants become afraid to report crimes.

I am sick and tired of this worn out excuse! Who really gives a crap about illegal communities? The people who might report the crime aren't getting deported even if they are illegal! IMHO even the so called victims should be investigated, but they aren't... so where is the problem? I mean really, where is the problem?

Yeah...it's all we hear from these illegal invaders and their advocates and it's really tired already! So essentially, we will have hands off policy against illegal invaders so they will feel comfortable reporting crimes (as if they do anyway). This is what they are asking for and too many agencies across this country are buying into this excuse as a reason to justify their refusal to enforce the law.

And why is it that illegal invaders are witnesses to so much crime being committed to begin with? I thought there was no correlation between illegal invaders and crime. That’s what their defenders claim! They live in their own little ethnic and illegal enclaves. So who exactly is committing all this crime they are potential witnesses to? Maybe if we deported illegal invaders there would be less crime to witness and thus report!

I am so sick of their lies I don't even read what they say anymore because it makes NO sense to any one except the reconquistas and their moonbat enablers.

you must not be investigating too hard if it takes you a year and you still have no decision.

tell me governor, how many more americans and people of colorado have to be killed by illegals before you do anything???

how many more young kids must be raped and molested before enough is enough?