Community responds to divisive idea

[Brian503a]

http://www.dailypilot.com/politics/stor ... 5816c.html

Police could enforce immigration law
Costa Mesa mayor wants city's police to be trained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to apply federal rules.
By Alicia Robinson, Daily Pilot

Costa Mesa could become the first city to ask its police officers to enforce federal immigration laws if the City Council agrees to a proposal Mayor Allan Mansoor will make Tuesday.

A 1996 law allows state and local jurisdictions to enforce federal immigration laws. Under Mansoor's plan, Costa Mesa police would be trained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to enforce immigration laws in the course of their normal duties.

Local police wouldn't be out doing sweeps to find illegal immigrants, said Mansoor, who works as an Orange County Sheriff's Department deputy. But when officers encounter suspected illegal immigrants during, say, a traffic stop, they could investigate and turn people over to immigration officials when warranted, he said.

"It's something that I believe the public wants to see done, and it's something that needs to be done," Mansoor said. "Illegal immigration is something that needs to be addressed at all levels."

Three other jurisdictions have taken the step Costa Mesa will consider: State police in Florida and Alabama, and the Arizona Department of Corrections have some officers trained to enforce immigration laws, said Virginia Kice, Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman. The sheriff's departments in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties will soon offer training to some officers, she said.

If the city moves forward, Costa Mesa police would receive about 3 1/2 weeks of training, Chief John Hensley said. After training, officers could question people about their immigration status when they are suspected of other crimes.

If they are determined to be in the country illegally, officers would take them to the Costa Mesa police station and contact immigration officials, who could hold them at a federal facility in Westminster or book them into county facilities, Hensley said.

This would be new. Costa Mesa police don't routinely investigate immigration violations now because it's outside the city's jurisdiction, Hensley said.

The chief didn't take a position on whether Mansoor's plan is a good idea, but he said he's concerned it could spread his staff too thin.

"We're at capacity, so any time something is added, we have to look at something else that we may not do.... I do have questions about whether these new duties will cause us to be concerned about our response times and allow us to follow up in an expeditious manner on claims and crime reports," Hensley said.

Councilwoman Katrina Foley said she has the same concern, and she added that immigration enforcement is absolutely a federal responsibility.

"I think that's a gigantic burden that we are not equipped to handle, and I think it's a very costly endeavor," she said.

Other council members could not be reached for comment.

While some believe immigration enforcement is the federal government's responsibility, voters and politicians have begun to call for a crackdown on illegal immigrants at various levels. They hope stemming the flow of illegal immigrants into the U.S. will help solve problems from overcrowded schools to substandard hospital care.

Despite President Bush's pledge this week to strengthen the nation's borders, Mansoor said he's disappointed with the federal response to the situation.

"This is a wake-up call to let the federal government know that we want more enforcement, and quite honestly, I think the federal government can't do it by itself," Mansoor said. "I think it needs to be a cooperative effort."

Foley said maybe there's a reason no other cities have taken this kind of step.

"These kinds of issues divide our community.... Why is Costa Mesa stepping out on a limb to do this when we don't have other cities of similar size and budget and demographics doing something similar?" she said.

Hensley said he expects the proposal to attract nationwide attention.

"I suspect that this will be one of the bigger issues to have confronted this community in a long time," he said.

QUESTION

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[Brian503a]

http://www.dailypilot.com/politics/stor ... 6102c.html

Community responds to divisive idea
Some say enforcing immigration law is vital; former police chief says proposal could ruin cops' rapport with city's Latinos.
By Alicia Robinson
(Published: December 1, 2005)

The Costa Mesa City Council will likely face a deeply divided audience when it meets Tuesday to discuss empowering city police officers to enforce immigration laws.

Mayor Allan Mansoor has proposed that Costa Mesa police be trained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to uphold immigration laws while carrying out their regular duties.

A 1996 federal law allows local law enforcement, after training from U.S. immigration officials, to detain people suspected of violating immigration law. Police officers would not seek out immigration violators, but if they encountered someone without proper documents while investigating a crime, the suspect could be turned over to immigration officials, said Mansoor, who works as an Orange County Sheriff's Department deputy.

If the council supports the plan, Costa Mesa would be the first city to take on immigration enforcement. State police in Florida and Alabama, and the Arizona Department of Corrections already have similar programs in place, and three Southern California sheriff's departments, including Orange County, plan to offer training soon.

Councilwoman Katrina Foley has said she's concerned about the burden more duties will put on city police.

Council members Eric Bever, Linda Dixon and Gary Monahan did not return calls for comment Wednesday or Thursday.

Supporters of the proposal say since the federal government isn't doing enough to enforce illegal immigration laws, local jurisdictions need to step in to fight crime in their communities.

"I think it would make the place much safer," Westside resident Judi Berry said. "If I get stopped for drunk driving, I lose my license. But if I get stopped for drunk driving and I'm here illegally, I don't really lose anything."

Berry said that if illegal immigrants are arrested for crimes but don't get deported, police sometimes have no recourse to punish them, and this would address that.

If council members approve the measure, they can count on support from their congressman, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, who said he supports the idea "100%."

"It should be evident to everybody by now that they cannot rely on the federal government to do this job on its own, and the impetus for reform is going to have to come from the bottom and not from the top," Rohrabacher said.

But others are deeply concerned that designating local police as immigration enforcers will rupture a carefully constructed relationship.

As Costa Mesa's police chief for 17 years, Dave Snowden tried to gain the trust of the city's Latino community to make sure crimes were reported and could be addressed, he said. Snowden is now the police chief of Beverly Hills.

"I think they're making a huge mistake if they vote this in," Snowden said.

"You work for years to build up a trust relationship where the Hispanic community now views the law enforcement community as a protector.... And then you do something like this, which is going to destroy, in my opinion, that trust. Basically instead of building bridges you're burning them down."

The police department will be overtaxed trying to enforce immigration laws, Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce President Ed Fawcett said, and the proposal is ripe for abuse -- not by officers, but by residents who call police every time they see someone they think doesn't belong in the city.

"Don't we have a multiple-tiered level of law enforcement?" Fawcett said. "It's like asking a baseball player to play nine positions at the same time."

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, an advocacy group, has seen proposals for local immigration enforcement fail, spokesman John Trasvina said.

The group sees the potential for racial profiling, and it would likely take more than the proposed 3 1/2 weeks of training for police officers to understand the different statuses of immigrants and what documents to look for, he said.

"It's easy to say 'enforce immigration laws,' but you need a lot of training to do that," Trasvina said.

Beyond the logistical concerns, Mansoor's proposal cuts to the heart of a very old debate about who is welcome in the city.

Rohrabacher, for one, thinks all doors should be closed to lawbreakers.

"First of all, it'd be a terrific example for other cities, and it's a terrific message that Costa Mesa would be sending to illegal immigrants, and that is, don't come to our city," Rohrabacher said. "If you're not in this country legally, you're not welcome."

But others, like Fawcett, see the city as a more inclusive place that will be polarized by Mansoor's proposal.

"If you're going to build a wall to lock somebody out, it takes one brick at a time," Fawcett said. "This is the first brick. More will be added later."

[greyparrot]

By just allowing officers to DO something other than simply ticketing non-english speaking drivers with no license or insurance (or having fake ones) would have a positive impact in regards to the safety of the driving public. At this point, an officers only option is to ticket such drivers caught violating traffic laws, knowing full well that that person will never appear in court.

The fact that there are more folks with the name last name Lopez wanted for DUI FTA's (failure to appear) than there are Smiths on Delawares "wanted" website, speaks volumes.