Thread: Calls e-mails overwhelmingly back police crackdown in Irving

Calls, e-mails overwhelmingly back police crackdown in Irving
By PATRICK McGEE
Star-Telegram staff writer
Sun, Sep. 30, 2007

IRVING -- When pro-immigrant activists held a rally Wednesday against a police program that has led to more than 1,500 deportations this year, they told the crowd to call City Hall and demand an end to the program.

City officials said they were swamped with nearly 500 calls the next day. But the calls were overwhelmingly in favor of the police crackdown, called the Criminal Alien Program.

"We received a ton of phone calls at City Hall, ... and they have mostly been in support of our program," Mayor Herbert Gears said. He said he also got 265 e-mails Thursday, only two of them opposing the program.

City Hall receptionist Edna Brown said she had about triple the number of calls she usually gets.

"It was so many calls, I even had 45 calls on hold," she said. "The majority of them were for it, and not that many were against it."

One of the organizers of Wednesday's rally, Carlos Quintanilla, said he was undaunted by the city's assertion and accused Gears and his staff of lying.

"They're trying to rally their base," Quintanilla said. "Their base is not as passionate as us."

Quintanilla said he will focus on getting Hispanics elected to office in Irving. The City Council has no Hispanic members.

"We're going to shock Irving when we take power," Quintanilla said.

Irving looms large among immigration activists and at the Mexican and Salvadoran consulates in Dallas, which have cried foul. Mexican Consul General Enrique Hubbard Urrea has said he suspects racial profiling.

Irving police launched the Criminal Alien Program in September 2006 to identify and remove illegal immigrants suspected or convicted of crimes. In June, the City Council endorsed the program, passing a resolution that in part states that the crackdown "is an extraordinarily successful and cost efficient response to a serious challenge for this community."

Under the program, police screen every person arrested in the city to help determine whether he or she is in the country legally. If questions exist, those arrested are referred to the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

The referrals are so numerous that immigration officials said Irving turns over more illegal immigrants than any other law enforcement agency in North Texas.

Graph: From Irving to ICE
STAR-TELEGRAM/DAVE SEYMOUR

Ninety percent of people Irving police turned over to the immigration agency are from Mexico and Central America, according to a Star-Telegram analysis of Irving police data.

Ninety-three percent were men. Sixty-nine percent of them were from Mexico, and 15 percent were from El Salvador.

Gears said warrants were the No. 1 cause of arrests for people who were turned over to immigration authorities. Public intoxication was the second.

Gears said the high number of people from Latin America does not prove racial profiling because Irving has so many Hispanic residents. Forty-two percent of the city's population is Hispanic, according to the U.S. census.

But pro-immigration activists say critics need only to look at traffic stops to see whether racial profiling occurs.

According to the Irving Police Department's 2006 racial profiling report, more Anglos were pulled over than members of any other ethnic group. Hispanics made up about a third of the 42,534 traffic stops made in 2006, the report states.

The report says, however, that Hispanics were searched more than any other ethnic group.

Police spokesman David Tull said the numbers do not necessarily prove racial profiling.

"Just looking at the hard numbers, there's not a quick way to answer that. ... Is this profiling, or is this not profiling?" he said.

"Bottom line is, you stop everyone for violations, and what you walk up on is what you deal with."

pmcgee@star-telegram.com
Patrick McGee, 817-685-3806

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/story/252128.html

That graph, almost exactly matches the Pew Hispanic Center estimates or illegal immigrant's country of origin.

Dixie

Irving will need to watch for voter fraud!! Big time!

At least they are doing something about it. If they did that in Miami Dade County then you would also have a high percentage of Columbians, Brazilians, Peruvians, and Haitians making up a large percentage as well. ICE really should show up to the independence days that they have big celebrations for such as Columbian Independence Day and they could get 100s of them. Law enforcement agencies here in Florida show up to Calle Ocho which is a street party in the Little Havana area of Miami. Thousands attend and many get arrested for parole violation or have warrants out for them. I am sure ICE could round up several bus loads there as well.

Basic math ....IF you have 5000 plain hersey kisses and 100 herseys with almonds...how many times will you encounter the plain...over the almonds...
The Mexican Consulate needs to leave....Simple truth is how many Mexican Consulaes suddenly in our Country...Duh...

When pro-immigrant activists held a rally..

Here we go again. The reporter forget or intentionally neglected to add the most important word: "pro-illegal immigrant activists.."

Originally Posted by redbadger

Basic math ....IF you have 5000 plain hersey kisses and 100 herseys with almonds...how many times will you encounter the plain...over the almonds...
The Mexican Consulate needs to leave....Simple truth is how many Mexican Consulaes suddenly in our Country...Duh...

GeorgiaPeach, Love your analogy, that should be pretty easy for some thick headed people to understand!!

Also, imbedded with this article is a Poll: Please Vote!
http://www.star-telegram.com/news/story/251793.html

Do you think there is a racial profiling problem in Irving?

Yes 374
14%
No 2222
84%
I don't know 53
2%
Total Votes: 2649
Your vote has been counted, thank you for voting.

I voted!!




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So THAT'S what it's about! Raw power, huh???

Keep it up, Carlos. Keep shooting yourselves in the foot.

From the May, 2006, marches in Irving:

http://www.jmi.com/immigrationmarches/flagbattle002.jpg

http://www.jmi.com/immigrationmarches/USflagbattle.jpg

See more at http://www.jmi.com/immigrationmarches/#marches