http://www.longmontfyi.com/Local-Story.asp?id=9203

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Publish Date: 8/8/2006

Council takes up immigrant reporting law


By Trevor Hughes and Brad Turner
The Daily Times-Call

LONGMONT — City leaders wade further into the immigration debate tonight by discussing a new state law requiring local police to report suspected illegal immigrants to state and federal enforcers.

The law is intended to help federal immigration officials enforce their laws without significantly burdening local governments, which say they don’t have the resources to arrest someone simply because they sneaked into the United States.

Tonight, the Longmont City Council may discuss how city police interpret the law, which took effect May 1.

Most arrestees in Longmont get booked at the Boulder County Jail, where deputies note the suspect’s country of birth, Longmont Cmdr. Craig Earhart said. All foreign-born jail inmates get reported to immigration officials.


In turn, Longmont police contact immigration officials directly only when they ticket or simply interview someone they suspect of being in the country illegally, Earhart said recently.

“We look at the circumstances of the arrest, information from witnesses, what language they speak,” he said. “We may ask them outright if they’re in the country legally.”

Ignoring the new law brings financial penalties from the state.

“If local governments do not comply with the provisions of this law, they will not be eligible to receive local government financial assistance through grants administered by the Colorado Department of Local Affairs,” said Bill Scott, head of the city’s emergency communications center in a memo to the City Council.

Boulder County deputies “overreport” lists of non-native arrestees to ensure they comply with the new law, Sheriff Joe Pelle said.

The list is sent weekly to U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and can include naturalized citizens or legal visitors with visas.

“We don’t have the time or the expertise or, quite frankly, the interest to investigate the immigration status of people we incarcerate,” Pelle said in early June.

The City Council set the item on the list for its first public reading, which means no hearing is scheduled tonight. However, immigration issues usually prompt discussion by council members, and proposals that get a first reading are rarely rejected later.

Also on tonight’s agenda is a discussion of a private company’s plans to create a citywide wireless Internet network, and the finalization of the language for a 0.325-cent public safety tax.

Trevor Hughes can be reached at 303-684-5220, or by e-mail at thughes@times-call.com.

Meeting

What: Longmont City Council meeting

When: 7 tonight

Where: 350 Kimbark St.

Information: Call the city clerk’s office at 303-651-8649 or visit www.ci.longmont.co.us