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Federal agency at center of criticism in Arizona immigration debate

Saturday, September 23, 2006 9:32 PM PDT

PHOENIX - As border woes have become a big issue in politics this year, some politicians in Arizona are blaming a federal agency for failing to cooperate with state and local authorities in helping battle illegal immigration.

The chief criticism is that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement often fails to respond to calls from police to pick up immigrants pulled over in vehicles or found hiding in stash houses, leaving local and state authorities little choice but to cut them loose if they weren't suspected of a crime under Arizona law.

But six police departments in metropolitan Phoenix, a key hub for smuggling illegal immigrants throughout the country, said the agency responsible for immigration enforcement beyond the borderlands responds regularly to requests to pick up immigrants.

‘‘Almost nine out of 10 times, they would come out and assist us and take over the investigation,'' said Sgt. Chuck Trapani, a police spokesman in Mesa, one of Arizona's largest cities. ‘‘They would take over the call. It's fantastic.''

In the last few years, Peoria police said, the federal agency always responded to assistance calls, sending a helicopter once to search for immigrants who had scattered when officers arrived.

While the U.S. Border Patrol monitors the southern part of the state, from the border to an area north of Tucson, one of the duties of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, is to target smugglers in metro Phoenix and remove illegal immigrants from the country.

Many of Arizona's critics of ICE said the Border Patrol does a better job of responding to calls for help and that the government pays far too little attention to interior enforcement.

ICE said it responded to 430 requests for assistance from state and local agencies in Arizona over a 12-month period ending in July, though it declined to provide figures on the number of times agents didn't respond to requests.

Roger Vanderpool, director of the Arizona Department of Public Safety, said his officers have gotten poor responses from the federal agency, especially in calls from rural areas.

Don Engler, a commander for the Payson Police Department, said ICE doesn't respond to calls from Payson, about 90 miles northeast of Phoenix, to pick up immigrants caught during simple traffic stops.

Still, the federal agency has gone to Payson to help police on warrants in drug cases involving illegal immigrants, Engler said.

Asked to reconcile the criticism of state officials about the agency with favorable reviews from some police departments, Gov. Janet Napolitano said, ‘‘They are telling me something else.''

Napolitano also has said the agency failed to adequately staff its Arizona operation and refused to share information with state authorities.

Vanderpool said a revolving door of leadership at the federal agency in Arizona has made it difficult for ICE to build relationships with state and local authorities.

ICE spokeswoman Jamie Zuieback said the agency enjoys a good relationship with state and local authorities in Arizona.