http://www.longmontfyi.com/Local-Story.asp?id=4966

Publish Date: 12/4/2005

Immigration consumes U.S.
Officers’ hands are tied

By Trevor Hughes
The Daily Times-Call

These days, with discussion about immigration and integration making local, state and national headlines, one question keeps coming up: If so many people are breaking immigration laws, why don’t police officers arrest them?

The answer is a simple combination of two factors: a lack of resources and a system that is not set up for local agencies to enforce a federal law.

“The federal government at this point is not interested in status offenders,� said Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle. “That’s clearly the message we get time and time again.�


That means an illegal immigrant who otherwise follows the law and stays out of trouble faces almost no chance of being forcibly deported. And even those who make minor missteps, such as shoplifting or driving without insurance, likely won’t be sent home.

It is only when illegal immigrants are convicted of a felony that federal officials take an interest in making sure they are deported. And even then, the crime usually has to be either violent, sex-based or against children, officials said.

“It is normally serious offenders, violent offenders, drug offenders,� Pelle said. “There is very little interest in things like DUIs and theft.�

Adds Weld County Sheriff John Cooke: “Once an illegal immigrant makes it to Colorado, we can’t take any action against them unless they commit a crime.�

How the system operates

When criminals are arrested in Colorado, they are asked their place of birth, which helps police officers and deputies accurately identify suspects.

Each week, county jails send a list of every foreign-born person in custody to the federal Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Included in that report is the reason an alien was jailed.

From the county perspective, the process, which is called an ICE hold, is a paperwork formality. During the hold, arrestees remain in jail serving their sentence, like any other inmate.

After the sentence is complete, it’s up to ICE officials to decide whether someone on a hold is dangerous enough for the federal government to begin deportation proceedings, Pelle and Cooke said.

If that’s not the case, the alien is simply released from jail back into the community.

According to Cooke, the ICE holding facility in Denver has about 300 beds, so federal agents have to be selective about who they choose to deport, given the lack of resources.

That means offenders who have committed crimes deemed not serious enough for deportation remain in Colorado, Cooke said. He estimated that illegal immigrants cost Weld County taxpayers about $2 million annually to house and feed.

Taking stock of the problem

Estimates of how many illegal immigrants are in jails are hard to come by.

Cooke said the jail population of foreign-born people can be as high as 25 percent, but he didn’t know how many of those are illegal immigrants and how many have permission to live and work in the country.

A recent assessment by Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck estimated the number of illegal immigrants in the Weld County Jail from June 1 to Nov. 11 at 7 percent. That number is based on calculating how many people were in jail on ICE holds on one particular day, then extrapolating backward for the overall jail population â€â€