Thread: Report: Houston not doing its part to stop Latino gangs

Report: Houston not doing its part to stop Latino gangs
Immigration study finds that number of arrests trails those in other cities participating in a nationwide crackdown
By STEWART M. POWELL and CAROLYN FEIBEL
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau
Oct. 1, 2008, 8:29PM
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Complete coverage of immigration issues WASHINGTON — The federal government's top immigration enforcement officer on Wednesday released a report that showed Houston has fallen short in a nationwide crackdown on violent, predominantly Latino street gangs that draw strength from undocumented immigrants.

Houston, the nation's fourth-largest city, accounted for just 71 of the 1,759 arrests in the roundup in 53 cities over the past four months, according to the report provided by Julie L. Myers, the assistant secretary of homeland security in charge of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, or ICE.

Myers said the reluctance of police departments in cities such as Houston and Phoenix to fully cooperate had forced federal immigration authorities to negotiate narrow, targeted enforcement efforts.

"We have had certain instances where the cooperation has not been as full as we'd like," Myers told a news conference where she unveiled the latest results of the Bush administration's long-running campaign against transnational street gangs such as MS-13, which operates in the United States, Mexico and Central America.

"It's definitely a problem for us if local law enforcement are encouraged not to cooperate with ICE or not to work with ICE even when we're talking about known gang members who may have committed very, very serious crimes," Myers said.

Myers declined to specify cases where Houston law officers failed to cooperate fully with federal immigration agents in the hard-hitting, federal-state-local enforcement operation dubbed Operation Community Shield.

Houston's arrest count trailed seven other cities nationwide that participated in the gang crackdown, including cities with smaller populations such as Boston, Atlanta, San Diego and Dallas. The number of arrests in Houston rivaled the 70 tallied in Tampa, Fla., the nation's 56th most-populous city.


Houston official defends HPD's efforts
Robert Rutt, the special agent in charge of Houston's ICE office, said he thought Houston police cooperated well during Operation Community Shield.

He said it was unfair to compare arrest numbers between cities, since Houston only conducted about three nights of anti-gang "sweeps," compared with other cities that carried out the operations for a week. Other cities also had different numbers of officers working on the anti-gang arrests, Rutt said.

"I am very happy with the cooperation between ICE and the Houston Police Department on all immigration and customs matters," he said.

Houston police officers do not routinely ask the immigration status of people who have not been taken into custody. But every arrest suspect brought to the city jail has his or her name run through two national databases, Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt said.

If the suspect is under deportation order or has an ICE detainer on file, the police will notify ICE and hold the suspect for 24 hours so ICE officials can pick them up, Hurtt said.

Since 2006, Hurtt said, ICE has picked up about 300 previously deported felons from the city jail.

"If anyone in the city of Houston is involved in criminal activity," Hurtt said, "whether they are U.S. citizens, or illegal immigrants, or someone here legally, they will be investigated and jailed."

Myers, the head of the immigration agency, said police departments in Houston and Phoenix have taken "additional steps of cooperation" in the wake of illegal immigrants killing local police officers.

"I think time will tell how lasting those (steps) will be and how broad that (cooperation) will be," she said.

Juan Leonardo Quintero, an undocumented immigrant, was convicted of killing Houston police Officer Rodney Johnson during a traffic stop in September 2006. Quintero was sentenced to life without parole in May.

Hurtt has repeatedly warned against turning his department's officers into de facto immigration enforcement officers to deal with the estimated 250,000 to 500,000 undocumented immigrants living in Houston.

"It undermines the trust and cooperation with immigrant communities that are essential elements of community oriented policing," Hurtt said in his latest policy statement. ''Local agencies do not possess adequate resources to enforce these laws in addition to the added responsibility of homeland security."

The eight Texas cities that took part in the latest roundup that began June 1, including Houston, accounted for 271 of the 1,759 arrests nationwide. Dallas recorded the most arrests, with 79 suspects taken into custody. Austin recorded the least, with one arrest.

Of the 1,759 arrests, 397 were U.S. citizens and 1,362 were foreign nationals, including legal and undocumented immigrants.

Houston's modest arrest count since June parallels earlier tallies showing that Houston has accounted for only 155 of the 11,106 suspected street gang members and associates taken into custody in the 45 months since the program began in early 2005.

Of those arrests, 3,997 were charged with criminal offenses and 7,109 were charged with immigration violations.

Powell reported from Washington; Feibel, from Houston.

stewart.powell@chron.com
carolyn.feibel@chron.com
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6035002.html
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P.S. Houston is a SANCTUARY city!

If Texas does not mandate all employers to E-Verify; then cut off all Federal funding.

Bum rap
Claims of lack of cooperation between Houston police and immigration anti-gang efforts are unfounded
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Oct. 4, 2008, 10:33AM
Share Print Email Del.icio.usDiggTechnoratiYahoo! BuzzThe Center for Immigration Studies is a well-known conservative think tank advocating for more restrictive immigration policies. Its representatives have consistently attacked immigration reform proposals while pushing for policies to reduce the number of non-citizens entering the U.S.

In a new report paid for by the Justice Department, CIS analysts compiled a glowing evaluation of Operation Community Shield, a nationwide anti-gang initiative conducted by the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that resulted in more than 1,700 arrests of gang members over the past four months. They also took a backhanded swipe at cities with relatively few arrests, including Houston, Phoenix and Los Angeles. The report noted that "these same jurisdictions also had controversial 'sanctuary' or 'don't ask, don't tell' policies on immigration status in place over the time period studied."

Houston officials have consistently denied that the city is an illegal immigrant sanctuary, and assert that non-citizens suspected of serious violations are arrested and immigration officers notified. However, Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt, formerly head of the Phoenix police department, has long maintained that local police agencies do not have the resources to round up aliens whose only crime is entering the country illegally.

Echoing the CIS criticism was Julie Myers, the assistant secretary of homeland security who directs ICE. In a news conference, she claimed that law enforcement in some cities had not fully cooperated in the anti-gang campaign, forcing the feds to negotiate narrow, targeted enforcement efforts.

According to Myers, "It's definitely a problem for us if local law enforcement are encouraged not to cooperate with ICE or not to work with ICE even if we're talking about known gang members who may have committed very, very serious crimes."

Myers' reported comments were immediately undercut by Robert Rutt, the special agent in charge of ICE's Houston office. He told the Chronicle that it was unfair to interpret low arrest numbers in Houston as an indication of weak enforcement because the federal program only conducted three nights of anti-gang sweeps here compared to some other cities where they lasted a week or more and had more officers involved. According to Rutt, "I am very happy with the cooperation between ICE and the Houston Police Department on all immigration and customs matters."

Rutt's sentiments are reinforced by U.S. Attorney Don DeGabrielle, who stressed that his office and ICE have an excellent relationship with HPD. "In gang surge operations ... and in smuggling cases," he stated, "HPD has provided critical assistance on each occasion when asked, leading to the successful apprehension of immigration violators."

DeGabrielle concluded that his office is "fortunate to have HPD as our partner and expect that productive working relationship to continue well into the future."
According to HPD arrest figures through September of this year, anti-gang efforts have resulted in more than 4,300 arrests. That's a big increase over last year's 2,040 total and indicative that Houston is not ignoring the threat of both local and transnational gangs. As Houston Mayor Bill White notes, "If somebody says that Houston is a sanctuary city, they don't know what they're talking about. ... We engage in joint raids with ICE on criminal gangs, and we were the leader in the adoption of fingerprinting procedures allowing for the identification and deportation of felons."

Hurtt later received a call from ICE's Myers, who said she has since been apprised that there are no cooperation problems with Houston police. "The damage has already been done," says the chief. "You can't unring the bell. It made us look in a bad light when actually we've been very aggressively working with the U.S. attorney and ICE."
It's unfortunate that the Justice Department would commission an avowed anti-immigration group to produce a report with unjustified inferences about Houston's law enforcement policies. Next time, officials should consult with the local ICE agents before endorsing erroneous conclusions.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/edi ... 39540.html

"It's definitely a problem for us if local law enforcement are encouraged not to cooperate with ICE or not to work with ICE even when we're talking about known gang members who may have committed very, very serious crimes," Myers said.

IT SEEMS TO ME THAT ICE TRUMPS LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT WHO ARE NOT DOING THEIR JOB. Gang members are a natonal threat and DO commit serious crimes that effect entire communities. Its time that these law enforcement people need to start enforcing the law, or else let them go.