After a closed meeting Tuesday with San Jose police and federal agents, immigrant rights advocates still oppose a new strategy for ridding the city of violent gang members who also are illegal immigrants.

"We feel as strongly in our opposition as we did before we walked in the door," said Raj Jayadev, director of Silicon Valley DeBug, a community organization for young adults. "It could still lead to the deportation of innocent people."

Jayadev and nine other advocates had a two-hour "question and answer" session with police Chief Chris Moore and federal officials about the deployment of two immigration agents with the city's Police Department. The agents, whose identities are being kept secret, started working with police at the beginning of the month.

Clark Settles, head of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations unit in the Bay Area, insisted the agents will focus on arresting and deporting undocumented, violent gang members and are not interested in routine, "administrative deportations" of any peaceful illegal immigrants they discover along the way.

"We're criminal investigators, and we go after felons," said Settles, who was transferred from Washington, D.C., two weeks ago. He said the two agents wished to keep their identities private because they live in the area and want to protect their families from attacks.

Ever since Moore announced the embedding of the federal agents, he has
been scrambling to win over community leaders and immigration rights advocates.

"I don't think everyone went home happy today," Moore said after Tuesday's meeting. "But I think they left with a better understanding."

Moore and Settles said the federal agents will not do any freelancing and will work under the direction of the police department's anti-gang officers.

"It takes time to build trust," Settles said.

Jayadev said the number of arrests and deportations might eventually impress some people, but the strategy also carries a big risk.

His fear is that undocumented immigrants who become victims of crime or witness them will be reluctant to report the incidents once they learn that "secret" immigration agents are working with city police.

"That is really the core issue as far as we're concerned," he said.

http://www.mercurynews.com/san-jose-police/ci_18555115