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Editorial | New Jersey Immigration OrderFederal 'deputies'?

MITSU YASUKAWA / The Newark Star-Ledger
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/ ... Order.html

Jose Lachira Carranza (left), a suspect in the execution-style slaying of three students, is an illegal immigrant. A recent immigration order by New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram is an unacceptable symptom of the federal government's failure to deal with the problem.
Milgram directed state and local police to ask all suspects charged with serious crimes about their immigration status. Then, if police have reason to believe the suspect is in the country illegally, they must contact federal authorities.

This action is meant in part to ensure consistency among police departments, which can be "deputized" to enforce federal immigration law. But it's hard to see how it will bring order to a dysfunctional system in which Washington already does not meet its obligations.

Milgram's order was a reaction to a brutal crime in Newark, in which three college students were shot to death in a schoolyard. One of the suspects in those slayings, Jose Lachira Carranza, is an illegal immigrant from Peru. He was out on bail, awaiting trial on charges of raping a child. Officials didn't know Carranza was an illegal immigrant when he posted bail. Had they known, they said, he would have been detained for possible deportation.

Under the new order, if a police officer arrests a suspect for assault, or driving under the influence, the officer must ask if the suspect is in the country legally. What if the suspect is an illegal immigrant, but doesn't fess up? Then it's up to the police officer to decide whether to contact U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. How should police make that decision? At the very least, the attorney general's office needs to provide guidance to ensure minority residents don't get singled out unfairly.

The ICE has been criticized for failing to act on referrals from police. And there is considerable doubt whether federal authorities are prepared to handle an increased number of prosecutions. The Star-Ledger reported that state judges were warned in April that ICE was not set up to receive "large-scale" immigration referrals from local authorities. That could put an added burden on county prisons.

Taking a step in a different direction, Milgram also has directed police not to ask crime victims and witnesses about their residency status, because it could have a chilling effect on citizen cooperation.

Her new policy could help in one aspect: It sets limits for state and local police participation in the controversial ICE program that allows them to be deputized for immigration enforcement. Milgram's action is meant to ensure that state and local police enforce state and local laws first, not federal immigration law. Local police in New Jersey, whose regular duties are enough of a responsibility, should not be turned into "immigration squads," doing the jobs that federal authorities should do, but don't.