Thread: Local-Federal Policing Worries N.Va. Latinos

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 01658.html

Local-Federal Policing Worries N.Va. Latinos
2 Area Agencies Interested in Training

By Candace Rondeaux
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 20, 2006; B05

A recent push to enlist local law enforcement agencies in the search for people illegally in this country is driving more immigrants underground, according to immigrant civil rights groups.
"Latinos are feeling more and more under attack regardless of their immigration status. We know people are afraid to go to the doctor, to go to school, to report crimes," said Michele Waslin, director of immigration research at the National Council of La Raza, the nation's largest Latino civil rights group.
Already, two Northern Virginia law enforcement agencies and about 20 others elsewhere in the United States have begun to form partnerships with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But others are holding back, saying the program could poison relations between officers and immigrant communities.
The immigration bureau has offered the program since 1996, when Congress passed the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act. But it has been only within the past year, when the national debate over immigration reform ignited, that the recruitment campaign intensified and interest in the program has grown.
Local officers who take the federal training program, known as 287(g), have access to the immigration agency's databases, enabling them to quickly determine whether suspects in custody are illegal immigrants. They can then complete the necessary paperwork to detain illegal immigrants and expedite the deportation process.
Participating local agencies, which pay for the database software and training, generally focus on illegal immigrants involved in criminal activity. The program does not give officers carte blanche to conduct wide-ranging immigration sweeps.
Loudoun County Sheriff Stephen O. Simpson (R) told several members of the Loudoun Board of Supervisors this week that he would like some officers in his gang unit to receive the federal training. Last month, Herndon Police Chief Toussaint E. Summers Jr. also expressed interest.
Simpson's proposal received a warm reception Wednesday from several county supervisors. The full board may vote on the issue before year's end.
But at a meeting last week, Simpson received a very different response from some fellow law enforcement leaders when he suggested taking a regionwide approach to participating in the program. Some worry that it could drive a wedge between officers and the immigrant community.
"It's a touchy subject, because we want the public to feel comfortable reporting crime," said Fairfax County Sheriff Stan G. Barry (D). "So we don't want to create the impression that if you're here illegally and something happens to you or a friend that you're going to be deported if you report it."
Barry, who did not attend the chiefs' meeting last week, said his agency is interested in the program, but he won't make a decision until he learns more about it.
Law enforcement agencies in Maryland and the District say that they are not interested and that immigration is a federal matter.
Nationwide, seven agencies have signed on, including the Arizona Department of Corrections and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. But that number is expected to triple soon, Immigration and Customs spokesman Mike Gilhooly said.
Waslin, with the Latino civil rights group, said anti-immigrant sentiment sparked by the national debate over immigration reform this year is driving interest in the program.
"It's election season, and the anti-immigrant sentiment is out there, and some people are trying to use immigration as a wedge issue. It's more evidence of the fact that we need comprehensive reform at the federal level," Waslin said.
Purcellville Police Chief Darryl C. Smith agreed, saying immigration is a federal matter. He added that he does not have enough staff manpower to allow officers to be away from the station for the month-long training and that the program is not as far-reaching as some might believe.
© 2006 The Washington Post Company

"It's election season, and the anti-immigrant sentiment is out there, and some people are trying to use immigration as a wedge issue. It's more evidence of the fact that we need comprehensive reform at the federal level," Waslin said.

ILLEGAL, Michele, ILLEGAL!