http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/edi ... 04296.html


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HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Editorial

June 26, 2006, 10:57PM



A few short words
Misguided talk regarding police policy on illegal immigrants could unleash havoc on public safety.
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

DOES it really matter what we call the rule keeping police from asking people about their immigration status if they are not suspected of committing a crime?



To a group called Protect Our Citizens, the answer is, not really. The activists have launched a petition for a November vote to change the current police policy. Houston, POC argues, should no longer be what they call a "sanctuary city." But they've glued Houston to the wrong label.

The 's' word that has gotten so much play is far more inflammatory than it might seem. Intentionally or not, it obscures both city policy and the public safety goal that drives it.

Houston's police policy does not aim to create a "sanctuary" for illegal immigrants. It's designed to conserve and focus precious police resources.

"Sanctuary," by contrast, is the name adopted by a social and political movement in the 1980s to shelter illegal immigrants fleeing Central America's civil wars. More recently, it implies a community that gives complete illegal immigrants complete immunity from immigration laws. Neither connotation remotely describes Houston's thoroughly practical local police procedure.

To protect this city's residents, HPD must command the trust of as many people as possible, regardless of immigration status, mastery of English or income level. Willingness to help police has to outweigh community members' fear and distrust.

Houston's huge population of undocumented immigrants loses all motive to help police if they know those same officers may deport them. Even if police simply had the discretion to ask immigration questions — which is what the petition drive is pushing for — that knowledge would erode the already flimsy bonds of trust HPD has tried to forge with immigrants.

That's why plenty of lawmen highly critical of U.S. immigration policy wholeheartedly support HPD's current rules. The police union, along with the mayor's office and HPD Police Chief Harold Hurtt, all concur that HPD must marshal its resources toward serious crimes.

By contrast, the spokesman for the petition drive could not give the name of one active or retired police officer or law enforcement expert willing to publicly defend the group's agenda.

That's not to say HPD fails to help the federal agency that has the job of enforcing immigration law. As of last August, police notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement anytime an officer arrests someone for a Class A or B misdemeanor or felony who lacks documentation.

Just like the police department, however, ICE is short on personnel and detention space. Even if HPD handed over every undocumented immigrant it encountered and identified, ICE couldn't process a fraction of them. Instead, the agency focuses on finding threats to national security and public safety.

That's not sanctuary. It's real life.


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HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Editorial
This article is: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/edi ... 04296.html