The longer arm of the law Missouri Highway Patrol is among agencies agreeing to revised U.S. rules covering immigration checks on those arrested

St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri)
October 19, 2009 Monday
By Tony Messenger
tmessenger@post-dispatch.com

JEFFERSON CITY - Politicians were turning up the heat on undocumented workers in the summer of 2007. The issue dominated the airwaves From Jefferson City to Washington, and elected officials fell over themselves trying to outdo their opponents in proving they were tough on illegal immigration.

That August, then-Gov. Matt Blunt ordered members of the Missouri Highway Patrol to check the immigration status of each person arrested by troopers. It was the sort of move emblematic of the national debate, with state officials taking action while Congress punted on comprehensive immigration reform.

Two years later, the immigration issue has been put on the back burner while politicians debate health care, cap-and-trade and economic uncertainty. But without fanfare last week, the Missouri Highway Patrol joined 66 other agencies nationwide in signing new agreements with the Department of Homeland Security continuing the process that was originally born out of political frustration.

The agreements - called 287(g) - still call for some local law enforcement officials to be trained as immigration officers. Those officers - about 18 state troopers in Missouri - can begin deportation proceedings after determining an arrest suspect is in the country illegally.

But in reaction to criticism from Hispanic activists and the federal Government Accountability Office, changes have been made to the agreements that are intended to discourage racial profiling.

Homeland Security officials earlier this year promised the changes to the local law enforcement agreements after the GAO criticized the lack of internal controls and guidelines that would protect against abuses.

"The program under President Bush was a free-for-all," said Lynn Tramonte, deputy director of America's Voice, an organization pushing for comprehensive immigration reform. "If you're going to pull somebody over for a broken taillight and then check their immigration status, that's problematic."

In announcing the new agreements, which have been standardized across the nation, Homeland Security Director Janet Napolitano said that the agreements should encourage law enforcement agencies to focus on serious criminals and to discourage profiling.

"These new agreements promote public safety by prioritizing the identification and removal of dangerous criminal aliens and ensure consistency and stronger federal oversight of state and local immigration law enforcement efforts across the nation," she said.

The key change to the new agreement is that agencies that sign on must agree to follow through with charges filed against anybody they arrest who is in the country illegally. Other changes include provisions that bind local law enforcement officials to federal civil rights laws and prioritizing levels of criminal offense so the program focuses on those who might be a danger to the community, such as murderers or rapists. The deportation process doesn't actually begin until the person has been convicted of the original charge against him or her and has served the sentence.

No law enforcement agency in Illinois has a 287(g) agreement with the federal government. Tennessee and Oklahoma are the only states that border Missouri to have one.

In Missouri, the new rule changes are no big deal, says Highway Patrol Capt. Tim Hull.

"Nothing's really changing for us," Hull said. "We only check immigration status when we present somebody for incarceration on another charge. Some of the other areas in the country are going to have to adopt the policies we already had in place."

Since 2007, the Missouri Highway Patrol has begun deportation proceedings for 457 people suspected of being in the country illegally, Hull said.

Missouri lawmakers put Blunt's original executive order into law in a bill passed in 2008 pushed by Sen. Scott Rupp, R-Wentzville. Rupp said lawmakers were careful to make sure that the patrol didn't take advantage of Hispanics but used the tool to target criminals who happen to be in the country illegally.

"We were supportive of controls originally because we didn't want to encourage any type of profiling," Rupp said.

He said he was pleased that Missouri is continuing its arrangement to work with the federal government to crack down on illegal immigration.

Jorge Riopedre, the president of the St. Louis area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said his organization still opposes the agreements in principle because of the use of local law enforcement officers as federal agents.

But, Riopedre said, "any changes that discourage racial profiling and put the focus on serious felonies, that's a step in the right direction."

Among the agencies that have been criticized for their use of the 287(g) agreements for the wrong purposes is the Maricopa County Sheriff's Department in Arizona run by famed Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Hispanic activists have alleged in a variety of lawsuits that Arpaio has used the new authority improperly, targeting legal and illegal immigrants. Now those activists are upset that the federal government has renewed its agreement - with the new controls - with Arpaio.

Across the country, six law enforcement agencies that had agreements under the old system decided not to sign the new ones. Among those not signing are the Houston police and two sheriff's departments in Florida.

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