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Federalizing local law enforcement

UNION-TRIBUNE
May 21, 2006

President Bush's immigration reform plan has elements that are thoughtful, nuanced and uplifting. But it also contains something that, if implemented, would be disastrous: encouraging local and state authorities to stick their mitts into the enforcement of federal immigration law.

Specifically, Bush wants to increase funding for existing programs that train local and state officers to partner with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, and the Border Patrol. The programs are voluntary, and individual agencies could opt out – as, you can bet, many would. But still, for the president to endorse such a concept is significant and troubling.

It's also surprising. Up to now, I wasn't sure that Bush believed the Border Patrol – let alone state and local authorities – should be stopping illegal immigrants from entering the country. At a news conference in December, Bush told reporters: “We want our Border Patrol agents chasing crooks and thieves and drug runners and terrorists, not good-hearted people who are coming here to work.”

Now Bush – who has, as of late, become a born-again “tough guy” on border enforcement – says that state and local lawmen “need to be a part of our strategy to secure our borders.”

As the son of a cop, I don't need convincing that state and local law enforcement authorities serve a valuable purpose. I do, however, need convincing that they should help enforce federal immigration law. And so do a lot of current and retired state and local cops I know, my father included.

It goes back to a simple concept that immigration restrictionists always seem to have trouble grasping: Law enforcement officers are not interchangeable, and one badge is not as good as another. Even putting aside concerns over limited resources, or interagency conflict, or the difficulty in duplicating in a few weeks of training the experience that a Border Patrol agent accumulates over a career, law enforcement works better when everyone performs assigned duties within normal jurisdictions.

A lot of Americans won't accept that. The way they see it, it's the job of law enforcement officers to apprehend criminals (including illegal immigrants), and it doesn't make a bit of difference whether the jurisdiction of those officers is local, state or federal. I guess that means they're OK with the idea of FBI agents handing out speeding tickets, or federal marshals responding to domestic disputes, or DEA agents investigating burglaries – duties normally assigned to state and local police officers.

That would be crazy, but no crazier than allowing state and local authorities to help the Border Patrol enforce federal immigration law.

Once that happens – and this is the best argument I've heard against the concept – it's sure to destroy any trust built up between local authorities and immigrant communities. Afraid of being deported, illegal immigrants won't report crimes committed against them or serve as witnesses or otherwise cooperate with authorities. Crimes would go unpunished, and bad guys would get away.

And this is someone's idea of more effective law enforcement?

It is, if you listen to media hounds such as Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona's Maricopa County. Arpaio is the man who gave us “tent city,” a sweltering outdoor jail in the desert where inmates are clad in pink underwear. Now he's unleashed a citizens' posse to round up illegal immigrants who are then jailed under a state human trafficking law. Between appearances on CNN, Arpaio maintains – as does Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas – that illegal immigrants are co-conspirators in their plan to cross into the United States.

It sounds to me as though Arpaio and Thomas, two elected officials, are co-conspirators in a shameless and transparent attempt to milk the immigration issue for all it's worth. While these gentlemen will likely take comfort from the portion of President Bush's speech that talked about local officials enforcing federal law, they shouldn't miss the part where Bush condemned the idea of “exploiting the issue of immigration for political gain.”

It's bad enough that politicians play those games, but when glory-seeking law enforcement officers get into the act, well, it ought to be a crime.

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Navarrette can be reached via e-mail at ruben.navarrette@uniontrib.com.