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Does 'not my job' mentality play a role in immigration enforcement?

06:19 PM CDT on Thursday, September 24, 2009

By Alex Sanz / 11 News

HOUSTON – The death of a woman in La Marque has raised questions over the role local police departments play in immigration enforcement.

Police say Faith Worthey Guillory was shot to death last week by Moises Perez Alvarez.

Alvarez, who was convicted in 1993 of the sexual assault of an 11-year-old girl, had been deported twice.

"It seems hopeless to have been able to save [her]," said Dana Landry, Guillory’s sister.

Landry said warnings about Alvarez’s threats – and immigration status – may have been ignored by several police departments in Galveston County.

"The police officer showed up and I said, 'Let me ask you a question. Is it true that you won't arrest illegal aliens because you don't get reimbursed?' And he said, 'Yep, that's our policy,'" Landry said.

Immigration consultant and former Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson Luisa Deason said that’s the answer the public sometimes gets.

"There's no excuse for that," she said. "But the reality of the issue is it comes down to funding and it comes down to how many officers are on the ground."

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials say the resources are there. Instead, the issue may be limited coordination and communication among local agencies.

That, and what some call an "it's not our job" mentality.

"If you get that kind of mentality in a police department, with the situation as it is, it is unbearable to think that not one person wants to step up and kind of break that mold and say, 'Okay, enough is enough,'" she said.

Crime Stoppers of La Marque has issued a reward for information leading to Alvarez’s capture.


http://www.khou.com/news/local/stories/ ... 998a4.html