http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/spe ... 88214.html

June 21, 2006, 11:20AM

Petitioners seek citywide vote on 'sanctuary policy'
Group criticizes HPD practice of officers not asking people about their immigration status
By MATT STILES
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
A petition drive launched Tuesday seeks a citywide vote on a Houston police policy against asking the immigration status of people officers encounter.

Deriding what they call the city's "sanctuary policy," about a dozen members of a group called "Protect Our Citizens" conducted a news conference at City Hall to announce the petition drive for a city charter referendum.

"It is time to send a message to the world that Houston is no longer a safe haven for illegal, criminal aliens," said spokesman Paul O'Finan, a lawyer.

The group also includes Mary Williams, founder of Taxpayers for Accountability, who has been involved in successful citizen-led initiatives including term limits for city politicians and a 2004 measure capping city revenue.

Officers ask people their immigration status only after they have been arrested for some other reason. Police say the understaffed department doesn't have the resources or training to do more.


Officials support policy
Officials also say changing the policy could erode the trust officers need to solve crimes in immigrant communities.

Police Chief Harold Hurtt and Mayor Bill White support the current policy.

But Councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs provided the first signature on the group's petition, saying, "We do not want a police force that has its hands tied."

The petition unveiled Tuesday calls for a city charter provision stating that the city "shall not obstruct" law enforcement officers from verifying immigration status or making arrests for immigration violations.

The petition also states that the city should allow officers to access federal databases and work with immigration agents.

The backers say they plan to get 20,000 signatures from registered voters by Sept. 1 to get the measure on the fall ballot.

"This has gone on long enough," Sekula-Gibbs said. "It is time for Houston to stand up and assist the federal government in enforcing immigration laws."

Sekula-Gibbs, who recently has tried to raise her profile on the border-security issue as she seeks to replace former U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, told the Houston Chronicle in November that she didn't have a "strong opinion" on a similar measure posed by then-Councilman Mark Ellis. He tried to force a council vote on the issue when he was seeking a Republican state Senate nomination in a conservative district.

"It's a political stunt," she said then of Ellis' measure, which would have similarly changed the police policy but also required people to show proof of U.S. citizenship to get "taxpayer-provided social services."


Councilwomen disagree
Sekula-Gibbs said it would be impossible to verify someone's immigration status before, for example, putting out a fire. She said she also disapproved of Ellis' tactic of trying to force a council vote on a nonbinding resolution.

A charter referendum, by contrast, would be binding on city policy.

"The city's sanctuary policy was wrong then, and it's wrong now," Sekula-Gibbs said Tuesday. "What he was trying to do was just political posturing."

After Tuesday's event, Councilwoman Carol Alvarado dismissed the petition as "pre-election politics," saying the city doesn't offer "sanctuary" to illegal immigrants.

She noted that the police department investigates the status of people arrested on serious misdemeanors and felonies, and then reports immigration violators to federal authorities.

Alvarado also said residing in the country illegally is typically treated as a civil offense, and she questioned the wisdom of getting city officers involved.

"I don't think it makes sense to take our police officers off the streets from chasing real criminals, who are committing real crimes, and send them on some witch hunt," she said.

matt.stiles@chron.com