http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_2768748

Article Launched: 05/31/2005 01:47:00 AM

A reluctant enforcer
City cites fiscal, social costs of policing immigrants
By Karen E. Crummy
Denver Post Staff Writer

The Denver police policy of not detaining illegal immigrants stopped for traffic violations is typical procedure for most U.S. cities, experts say. One such immigrant who was stopped in Denver three times is now accused of shooting two police officers.

While approaches vary, cities from Los Angeles to Dallas to Chicago do not detain a driver even if there is suspicion that he or she is undocumented.

"I would say it's the normal practice," said Marshall Fitz, associate director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association in Washington, D.C. "If someone gets pulled over for going through a stop sign and there is no suspicion of other unlawful actions, the police write a ticket and send them on their way."

How Denver officials deal with jail inmates suspected of being in the country illegally also appears to be consistent with federal law and common practice nationwide, officials said.

Still, since Sept. 11, 2001, the federal government has nudged states and local law enforcement toward taking more of a role in immigration enforcement. A few departments have obliged. But being more aggressive on the immigration front requires cities and states to put their officers through special training.

Raul Garcia-Gomez, a 19-year- old Mexican national, was stopped for three traffic violations between October and May 8, the day he is accused of killing Denver police Detective Donald "Donnie" Young and wounding Detective John "Jack" Bishop. Garcia-Gomez was released all three times after producing a valid Mexican driver's license.

The slaying of Young set off a fierce debate about illegal immigrants in Denver and whether police should detain people they suspect of being undocumented.

U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R- Colo., accused Denver police of having a "sanctuary policy" for undocumented immigrants because they did not detain Garcia-Gomez.

But being in the U.S. illegally is a civil violation and historically considered the purview of federal immigration officials. As a result, many police departments have policies that prohibit officers from checking immigration status of people they pull over.

City police departments point to other reasons as well. In cities with large immigrant populations, officials fear detaining suspected illegal immigrants could jeopardize the effectiveness of community policing, Fitz said.

In Denver, for instance, Police Chief Gerry Whitman said it is important that residents are not afraid to report crimes or testify as witnesses to crimes.

"We don't want them to look at us and not trust us or not provide information to us because they fear we might retaliate against them," he said.

There is also concern about whether giving officers the power to question immigration status would lead to racial profiling.

And then there is the question of whether federal officials will even show up if police call them.

In New Hampshire, after Immigration and Customs Enforcement didn't respond to calls to pick up illegal immigrants, New Ipswich's police chief took matters into his own hands. He has started charging undocumented immigrants with trespassing for being in his city unlawfully.

"It differs from place to place. There isn't a policy nationwide" on responding to calls from local police, said Jeff Copp, district chief of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, in Denver. "It all depends on the locality and the resources."

Copp said his office has only 200 agents to cover all of Colorado, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Many agents are working on non-immigration matters, such as child pornography, money laundering and narcotics smuggling, he said.

What if Denver police had called his office one of the three times they had contact with Garcia-Gomez? Would Copp have sent an agent to review his immigration status?

"It would've depended on how much work we had and how many guys were available," Copp said. "I can't deal in what-ifs."

The United States currently has about 10.3 million undocumented immigrants. About 200,000 to 250,000 are in Colorado, according to a recent study by the Pew Hispanic Center.

With the resources of federal and local agencies stretched thin and the number of undocumented workers climbing, the agencies often find themselves at loggerheads.

"Often, municipal priorities don't match up with federal priorities," Whitman said, noting that his agency's top concern is criminal investigations. "We rely on the feds to do and fund the things they set as a priority."

ICE's failure or inability to respond to localities has created a problem for cities that don't have the resources to detain people suspected of being undocumented, said Steven Camarota, research director of the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, D.C. "It doesn't take much for the police department to hold someone for a few hours. But when you're talking about overnight and longer, it can be onerous."

City and county jails already house illegal immigrants who have committed a crime. Whether local officials single out an inmate for scrutiny of his or her status varies from city to city and state to state, Camarota said. Whether ICE agents check on city and county jails is also inconsistent, he said.

In Denver, officials periodically submit to ICE a roster of inmates suspected of being in the country illegally.

Los Angeles is attempting to become the first city to enter into an agreement with ICE that will permit some sheriff's deputies to enforce immigration policies, according to the National Immigration Law Center. They would be able to interview detainees and draft immigration detainer forms.

The sheriff in Orange County, Calif., has proposed training more than 200 of his deputies to catch illegal immigrants with criminal convictions. The deputies would review the citizenship status of inmates and those being investigated for a serious crime.

As for stronger enforcement of immigration laws by officers on the street, Florida and Alabama have entered into agreements with the federal government to train members of their state patrols to identify and detain undocumented drivers.

And Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton has proposed permitting officers to ask suspected felons about their immigration status if the suspect is believed to have been deported previously and illegally returned.

Over the past few years, several bills have been proposed in Congress to force local governments to enforce civil immigration laws. Groups like the National League of Cities have opposed the measures, contending that they amount to unfunded mandates for cities and would divert local resources to federal obligations.

Staff writer Kris Hudson contributed to this report.

Staff writer Karen Crummy can be reached at 303-820-1594 or kcrummy@denverpost.com.