Thread: MD: Montgomery Police Seek Tougher Line On Immigrant Status

Montgomery Police Seek Tougher Line On Immigrant Status
Detainees' Residency Would Be Checked In Cases Involving Weapons, Violence

By Dan Morse
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 1, 2009; B01



Montgomery County police are seeking approval to ask suspects arrested for violent crimes and weapons offenses about their immigration status, an about-face in a county whose leaders for years declined to do so even as police agencies elsewhere in the region began aggressive efforts to identify illegal immigrants.

The proposal, developed by Chief J. Thomas Manger and his senior staff, comes after two alleged illegal immigrants were charged in the fatal shooting of a 14-year-old honor student on a county transit bus and after another alleged illegal immigrant was charged in a string of home invasions and the slaying of a 63-year-old Bethesda resident in her home.

"All public officials have been receiving questions from citizens who are asking, 'Why are persons who are in the country illegally or unlawfully allowed to remain?' " said Wayne M. Jerman, an assistant police chief.

Jerman said the policy is not ideologically driven. Rather, he said, police officials see immigration violations as another tool to get dangerous criminals off the streets.

The proposal will not go into effect without the approval of County Executive Isiah Leggett, who once angrily told a crowd that the county is "not in the business of enforcing immigration issues." Through a spokesman, Leggett declined to comment. It is unclear when he will make a decision.

Del. Ana Sol Gutierrez (D-Montgomery) said she and other immigrant advocates have met with Leggett to convey their opposition to the policy change. She said it could lead to racial profiling and constitutional violations.

"What we are saying is: 'Hold it. You may be going down a slippery, slippery slope,' " she said.

From the opposite perspective, the proposal was also criticized yesterday by Brad Botwin, director of Help Save Maryland, a group that advocates stronger local enforcement of immigration laws. Botwin said he thinks police should inquire about immigration status whenever they detain someone for any reason.

The proposal is "not sufficient," he said. "Any time they touch law enforcement, we'd like to know who these people are."

The proposal is being refined, but under a current version, it would kick in when a suspect is arrested in connection with a weapons offense or a violent crime, such as murder, armed robbery, kidnapping, first-degree child abuse, rape or various sex crimes. Jerman said that if the arresting officer thought the suspect was in the country unlawfully, the officer could inquire about immigration status and would be required to refer the matter to federal immigration officials.

As of yesterday, eight of 16 people held in the county jail on murder charges had immigration detainers placed on them, meaning federal authorities might move to deport them after their criminal cases have run their course. Such suspects are not necessarily in the country illegally.

Authorities have said that at least two of the suspects are illegal immigrants whose status went undetected during previous arrests in the county: Gilmar L. Romero and Hector M. Hernandez, alleged gang members charged with first-degree murder in the Nov. 1 shooting death of 14-year-old Tai Lam.

Romero, 20, was arrested in June on a weapons charge after police said he walked down University Boulevard East in Silver Spring in the middle of the day with a machete stuffed in his waistband. Hernandez, also 20, was arrested in October in connection with possessing a switchblade and threatening a student at Northwood High School.

"Obviously, there are some things that have alarmed a lot of people," said State's Attorney John McCarthy, referring to the Lam killing, the arrest of Jose Juan Garcia-Perlera in connection with the slaying of Bethesda resident Mary Havenstein and other recent incidents.

McCarthy said he supports the proposal. "I think that helps public safety," he said.

The change would signal a major shift in Montgomery, which hasn't altered its procedures even as jurisdictions in Virginia and neighboring Frederick County have moved to crack down on illegal immigration.

As a matter of policy, under an agreement with federal immigration officials, detainees at the jail in Frederick are asked where they were born and whether they are U.S. citizens, which can trigger a series of immigration-related questions. Those suspected of being illegal immigrants are held while federal officials are notified.

Prince William County drew national attention in 2007 by proposing that officers check the immigration status of those detained, even for such minor infractions as speeding, if they thought the detainees might be in the country illegally. The county backed off that approach, requiring that officers check status under more limited circumstances. Last year, Virginia enacted a law requiring jail officials in every jurisdiction to notify federal authorities of all foreign-born inmates, regardless of their immigration status.

Law enforcement officials in Montgomery acknowledge that any change in immigration policy is fraught with challenges. They have spent years trying to cultivate the trust of immigration communities when it comes to victims of crimes and witnesses to crimes, promising that their status will not be questioned. It also would not be questioned under the proposed policy, McCarthy and police officials said.

"I still need them to come forward," McCarthy said. "We're tying to take a balanced, measured, approach."

But actions taken in recent years by county police have upset some in the Latino community. As a matter of practice, when Montgomery police officers detain someone or make a roadside stop, they typically check to see whether any agency has warrants for the person's arrest. If immigration officials have filed to have the person detained, the person is held for 48 hours to give them a chance to take custody.

In neighboring Prince George's County, police take a less aggressive approach on detainers. Officers are governed by a 2003 County Council resolution directing them to "refrain from enforcing immigration matters that are the responsibility of the [U.S.] Department of Homeland Security," said Maj. Andrew Ellis, a police spokesman.


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Botwin said he thinks police should inquire about immigration status whenever they detain someone for any reason.

Botwin sounds like the only individual mentioned in this article with a lick of sense!

"All public officials have been receiving questions from citizens who are asking, 'Why are persons who are in the country illegally or unlawfully allowed to remain?' " said Wayne M. Jerman, an assistant police chief.

Thats what I want to know. Maryland has some of the worst representatives in the nation. Mikulski is one of them. I have written, emailed and called her office with absolutely ZERO results. She is one of the biggest BOZOS in office. Why do people keep voting this CLOWN back in? I have also contacted the police several times concerning the Day Labor Centers but no one wanted to listen. NOW they are complaing? GOOD, I HOPE THEY DO SOMETHINGS ABOUT ILLEGAL ALIENS. START BY DEPORTING THEM.

Major changes proposed in county immigration policy

January 7, 2009

By Joe Slaninka

Staff Writer


After numerous community forums and meetings over the last few months, officials say they are hearing the citizens of Montgomery County about illegal immigration in the county.

A proposal, developed by Montgomery County Police Chief Thomas Manger, asks for the approval to question suspects, arrested of violent crimes and weapons offenses, about their immigration status, a complete reversal in a county where government officials, for years, refused to do so even when neighboring jurisdictions adopted the practice.

"All public officials have been receiving questions from citizens who are asking, 'Why are persons who are in the country illegally or unlawfully allowed to remain?'" said Assistant Police Chief Wayne Jerman.

The proposal comes after police charged two reportedly illegal aliens for the shooting of 14-year old Blair student Tai Lam in early November, and charged another alleged illegal alien for a year-long string of home invasions that left Mary Havenstein, 63, dead in her Bethesda home.

Ana Sol Gutierrez (D-Montgomery) said she has expressed concern to Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett, who needs to approve the proposal before it can be implemented, that it could lead to racial profiling.

"What we are saying is: "Hold it. You may be going down a slippery, slippery slope,'" she said.

Brad Botwin, Director of Help Save Maryland, a group who fights to help preserve Maryland communities from illegal immigration, said the proposal "seems gang-focused" and "falls way short" of what they are calling for.

Botwin said the proposal allows police to question a suspect about their immigration status when they are charged for violent crimes such as murder, armed robbery, assault, rape or other various sex crimes. Jerman said that if an arresting officer suspects a person of being in the country illegally, the officer could ask about their immigration status, and would be required to refer the issue to federal government officials.

"We want a full background check on anyone incarcerated for violent crimes, as well as anyone pulled over for a traffic violation," Botwin said. "We want an [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] agent in the jails to process these people. This proposal is only good for after they find the bloody knife or gun, and by that time it is just way too late."

Police said the two suspects arrested for the murder of Tai Lam, Gilmar Romero, 20, and Hector M. Hernandez, 20, were arrested in the past, but their immigration status were overlooked.

Romero was arrested in June on a weapons charge after police said he walked down University Boulevard East in Silver Spring in the middle of the day concealing a machete. Police arrested Hernandez in October for possessing a switchblade and threatening a student at Northwood High School.

State's Attorney John McCarthy said he supports the proposal, and said it "helps public safety."

Neighboring Frederick County and Prince William County, in Virginia, both have similar laws that prevent people from living in the country unlawfully.

Last year Frederick County adopted Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which allows police officers to inquire anyone about their immigration status only if the person violates the law. Anyone suspected of living in the country illegally is detained until federal immigration officials are notified.

Prince William County implemented a law last year, requiring every jurisdiction's jail to alert federal authorities of every foreign-born inmate, regardless of immigration status.

Botwin said Leggett has agreed to meet with him and other members of Help Save Maryland, on Jan. 16, to discuss the issue.

"We are going in there and pounding are fists on the table," Botwin said.

http://www.thesentinel.com/338110898600552.php

Attitudes Shift on Illegal Residents
Some Link Crime In Montgomery To Immigration

By Dan Morse and Ann E. Marimow
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, January 11, 2009; A01



For years, mainstream Montgomery County has been generally accepting of illegal immigrants, and county leaders followed suit, pledging not to enforce immigration laws even as police agencies elsewhere in the region began to do so.

But public sentiment appears to be shifting in Montgomery, driven less by ideology than by alarm over rising crime and the recent slayings of a 14-year-old honor student on a county transit bus and a 63-year-old woman in her Bethesda home.

"People who are very, very tolerant want to see some changes," said County Council member Marc Elrich (D-At Large), one of five council members who said in interviews that public opinion has shifted in recent months.

Elrich said crime has "really hit home" even in his neighborhood of Takoma Park, a city that since 1985 has officially refused to identify or report undocumented immigrants.

Mariana Cordier, who grew up in the county and is a past president of the Maryland Hispanic Bar Association, said residents are increasingly linking crime to illegal immigration.

"It's been slow to come to Montgomery County," she said of that perception, "but it has arrived."

Police Chief J. Thomas Manger is developing a proposal that would require county police officers to check the immigration status of suspects arrested for violent crimes and weapons offenses.

"I wouldn't have gone for it a year ago," Bethesda resident Judy Campbell said recently, leaving a natural food co-op in Takoma Park with soy milk and a slice of vegan double-chocolate fudge cake. "Until this series of violent crimes, it wasn't on my radar screen."

Campbell, a 50-year-old nurse, is an avowed liberal. She thinks illegal immigrants deserve publicly funded health care. She once voted for Dennis Kucinich. And for the upcoming inauguration, she plans to participate in Chant4Change, an event that bills itself as a gathering for "conscious revolutionaries."

But she supports the chief's efforts, in part because the emerging proposal is not as far-reaching as policies that have been enacted in Prince William and Frederick counties.

Some officials, including County Executive Isiah Leggett (D), say they have detected no major shift in public sentiment. Leggett, who in the past has said Montgomery should not be in the business of enforcing immigration laws, would have to approve the proposal before it could take effect.

Opponents hope to persuade him to reject the idea, which they say would result in racial or ethnic profiling that could ensnare innocent people. State Del. Ana Sol Gutierrez (D-Montgomery) and other opponents said residents would reject the proposal if they understood its consequences more fully.

The proposal is a departure from past practice for a police agency that has cultivated relations with immigrant communities. The department has long taken the position that delving into immigration matters could jeopardize cooperation from crime victims and witnesses, undermining public safety.

Manger, who is crafting the proposal with his senior staff, declined to comment. Assistant Chief Wayne M. Jerman said recently that "all public officials" have been hearing from residents that the county needs to be more aggressive on the issue.

Until recently, concern in Montgomery over illegal immigration focused chiefly on opposition to a county plan to open a day-laborer center in Gaithersburg.

But when illegal immigrants were charged in the two killings, one of which police linked to a series of home invasions, the issue found a wider audience, said Rene Sandler, a Rockville defense attorney.

"You're talking about the fear that crime evokes," she said.

Serious crime is up 7.7 percent in Montgomery, a trend driven by increases in home and car break-ins across the county. Police acknowledge that they do not know how much of that increase is attributable to illegal immigrants.

As of a week ago, eight of 16 people held in the county jail on murder charges had immigration detainers placed on them, meaning federal authorities might move to deport them after their criminal cases have run their course. Such suspects are not necessarily in the country illegally.

Police officials, however, have said two of the suspects -- alleged gang members accused in the Nov. 1 shooting death of 14-year-old Tai Lam -- are illegal immigrants whose status went undetected during previous arrests in the county.

"People in the mainstream are saying, 'Wow, we could have had this person and we didn't. What could have been done differently?' " said council member Michael Knapp (D-Upcounty).

Under a current version, Manger's proposal would apply when a suspect is arrested for certain crimes, such as murder, armed robbery, kidnapping, first-degree child abuse, rape or weapons offenses. If the arresting officer thought the suspect was in the country unlawfully, the officer would inquire about immigration status and, depending on the response, refer the matter to federal immigration officials.

Leggett, who plans to make a decision on the proposal as soon as the end of the month, said he wants to use all reasonable tools to get criminals off the street but is concerned about the potential for profiling. "You don't want to punish or stereotype people in a way that is unfair and illegal," he said.

His aides are scheduled to meet tomorrow with a half-dozen immigration and Latino advocates, including Cordier and Gutierrez.

As a practical matter, Gutierrez said, officers could not determine which suspects to question without engaging in profiling. She said officers would also need to become familiar with the complex terrain of immigration matters, including more than 100 types of visas.

"The devil is in the details," said Gutierrez, who said she has not detected any shift in mainstream public opinion about the role county police should have in immigration matters.

Police officials have not said how officers would determine whom to press on the question of status, or what kind of training they would need to carry out the policy effectively.

Chuck Short, an aide to Leggett, said some officials think that failure to address the concerns over illegal immigration now could lead to pressure later for more aggressive policies, such as cutting social services for illegal immigrants.

Already, an activist group that supports such measures, Help Save Maryland, has secured a meeting for Friday with Leggett's aides -- a gathering that would have been unheard of several months ago, said Brad Botwin, the group's director.

"It would never have happened, in no way, shape or form," said Botwin, a county resident.

Currently, when Montgomery officers detain a suspect, they run a routine check for outstanding warrants. If the check turns up a warrant from immigration officials, federal authorities are notified.

Some jurisdictions are far more aggressive. Prince William drew national attention in 2007 by proposing that officers check the immigration status of those detained, even for such minor infractions as speeding, if they thought the detainees might be in the country illegally. The county backed off that approach but requires that officers ask about the status of everyone they place under arrest.

In Frederick , as part of a partnership with federal immigration authorities, all people booked into the county jail are questioned about their citizenship. The answers can trigger more questions and a call to federal agents.

Officers in Prince George's County, by contrast, take a less aggressive approach than Montgomery. They are governed by a 2003 County Council resolution directing them to refrain from enforcing immigration laws.

In downtown Silver Spring, where the slain honor student spent time with friends, Christmas cards, personal notes and a laminated bus transfer are assembled in a weathered memorial that commemorates his life.

Stan Wolk, a lawyer whose office is nearby, called Lam's death senseless and tragic. Wolk said his liberal instincts compel him to support amnesty and a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants who work hard to provide for their families.

But when it comes to suspects arrested for violent crimes and weapons offenses, Wolk said he supports checking immigration status, as do many of his acquaintances. "A lot my friends would say if they're illegal, put them away," he said.

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the chickens are coming home to roost......unfortunately people had to die vicious, violent deaths in Montgomery County at the hands of illegal aliens for the liberal, pro-illegal alien, open-borders commissioners and public to finally decide perhaps harboring/assisting/aiding and abetting the large criminal illegal alien population in the area isn't such a good idea anymore.

The Secure Communities Iniative was also implemented recently in Bucks and Montgomery County Pennsylvania as a result of public pressure ...activists had been quietly meeting with officials in both counties for several years regarding 287(g) and implementing cooperative agreements to identify criminal illegal aliens etc. in those areas.....finally after another murder of an innocent citizen at the hands of the illegal alien from Ecuador, employed by a landscape contractor in Bucks County,....ICE and Bucks/Montco. announced their participation in a coordinated effort and agreement to be in ICE's Secure Communities Initiative. We who live in these areas are very, very grateful that our County and law enforcement officials have made this commitment. THey are the first and only Counties in PA to have done so and we hope this catches on in the rest of the state and the nation.