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Immigration scrutiny increases at jail
Reorganized ICE puts holds on 114 inmates in 3½ months
By SARA REED
SaraReed@coloradoan.com


Reorganization within Immigration and Customs Enforcement has drastically increased the number of immigrants, documented and undocumented, removed from the Larimer County Detention Center over the last 3½ months.

Beginning May 22, officials from the Denver ICE office have made daily trips to the jail, resulting in immigration holds being placed on 114 inmates, according to Larimer County Sheriff's Major Gary Darling, who oversees the jail. Prior to that, immigration holds had been placed on only three inmates.

Of those 114 inmates, 57 have been taken into custody by ICE officials and likely taken to the immigration center in Aurora where they face deportation; 22 have been transferred to other facilities and the remaining 35 are still in the jail as they await a resolution in their cases, Darling said.

During visits to the jail, ICE officials interview every foreign-born inmate to determine whether it is appropriate to place an immigration hold on him or her.

Prior to May 22, ICE officials "almost never" visited the jail, said Sheriff Jim Alderden, who added that he is pleased with the increase, which he sees as an improvement in public safety.

"ICE has become much more active removing criminal aliens from the community," he said.

These visits are only to the jail and deal with those already in custody, Alderden said.

"We don't book people just because they are immigrants," he said.

Kim Salinas, a local immigration attorney, said there are individuals being arrested for minor offenses that don't normally result in an arrest -such as driving without a seatbelt or speeding - because there is a question about their immigration status.

"A lot of them (those on the removal lists) are people who don't pose a danger to society," she said.

Salinas said the increase in immigration holds is a matter of public safety but for different reasons cited by Alderden.

"There is a growing fear and distrust of law enforcement," Salinas said because undocumented immigrants are becoming more afraid to report crimes.

Salinas said that one of her clients, who is undocumented, was questioned about her immigration status by Sheriff's deputies and threatened with arrest after she reported that she was a victim of domestic violence.

For two years ICE has been transferring the responsibility for placing holds on illegal immigrants in jails and prisons from its investigations program to its detention and removal program, according to spokesman Carl Rusnok.

"This is not a new decision," Rusnok said.

The daily visits have been a result of increased staffing in the Denver office, which makes daily visits to only Larimer and Weld counties, Rusnok said, but added he is not sure whether daily visits would continue as officials begin to visit more jails.

The change is having no impact on the daily jail population, Darling said, because those inmates still have to go through the court process.

Any impact from the increased visits is going to be seen post-conviction, Darling said.

"If they are removed from the area, the chance of them coming back (to the jail) is decreased," he said.

The increasing arrests are harmful to the jail and the justice system, Salinas argued, because it strains an already overloaded system.

"This is a misuse of resources that are already stretched thin," she said. "And by resources, that includes jail beds."