Thread: County may send jailed illegal immigrants to feds

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Article Published: Wednesday, May 18, 2005 - 2:48:47 PM PST
County may send jailed illegal immigrants to feds

County board gives the go-ahead to develop plans that could reduce the population in the county's jails by about 20 percent

By JOE NELSON
Staff Writer

If the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department could deport all of its inmates who are illegal immigrants, its jails would have about 20 percent fewer inmates.

And identifying each of the illegal immigrants in county jails could provide the county more money from the federal government for incarcerating them.

On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors gave sheriff's officials the green light to start looking at developing a system to identify and process illegal immigrants booked for crimes in San Bernardino County.

Under the proposed program, inmates found to be illegal could be remanded to federal custody for possible deportation or prosecution.

"This is not about the Sheriff's Department profiling anybody. These people are criminals," Supervisor Paul Biane said during Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting.

Sheriff's personnel will appear again before the board, likely within 60 days, to present their findings.

Working with the federal government could provide more federal reimbursement from the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program for the cost of housing illegal immigrant inmates.

In 2003, the Sheriff's Department received $547,526 in reimbursement from the program. Last year, it received $487,145. This year, the Sheriff's Department expects to receive about $250,000, Capt. Dennis Casey said.

Under the new program, those numbers could jump dramatically.

"We can reasonably expect those numbers to increase. How much, we don't know," Casey said.

The county's three jails West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga, the Glen Helen Rehabilitation Center in Devore and the Central Detention Center in San Bernardino are bursting with inmates. The crisis has forced the premature release of thousands of inmates monthly, sheriff's officials said.

Recent statistics show that 15 percent to 20 percent of jail inmates in the county are not U.S. citizens, authorities said.

The plan is to have agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement train sheriff's custody assistants - civilian employees who book inmates.

"They'd be trained to look for the same thing an immigration officer looks for," said Bill Cates, a deputy chief with the Sheriff's Department who oversees jail operations for the county.

Custody assistants would be authorized to detain inmates who are not U.S. citizens for federal authorities. Deportation or federal prosecution could follow.

"At least if they're sent out of the country, there's a better chance we won't see them again," Cates said, referring to the reduction of crimes committed by illegal immigrants in the county once they are deported.

Since 1996, state and local law enforcement agencies have been able to apply specific immigration laws that are individually negotiated with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is responsible for the investigation and enforcement of suspected customs and immigration violations.

ICE is charged with training and supervising law enforcement in this area.

However, few agencies have taken advantage of the policy, and so far only 54 people, all in Florida or Alabama, have undergone the required training and are qualified nationwide, said Manny Van Pelt, an ICE spokesman.

Such a program would need a system of checks and balances to ensure that undocumented immigrants receive due process and that their rights are not violated, said Gil Navarro, associate president of the Mexican-American Political Association's Inland Empire Region.

Navarro said he prefers leaving the work of illegal immigration to federal authorities.

"I think it's a very sensitive area when law enforcement essentially identifies themselves as immigration officers by making those kinds of decisions," Navarro said.

"Law enforcement, to me, should concentrate on enforcing state penal codes and leave the immigration work to Homeland Security and the Border Patrol."

Staff writer Brenda Gazzar contributed to this report.

"This is not about the Sheriff's Department profiling anybody

I can't even wrap my brain around this one. How could profiling even enter the subject??

Under the proposed program, inmates found to be illegal could be remanded to federal custody for possible deportation or prosecution.

Why not just cut out the middle man and let them all go free now.

That's all the Feds will do. Of course, they'll first get an iron-clad promise from the inmates to appear at a hearing six months in the future before letting them go.