Program targets illegal residents

Correction officials using fed immigration database

By ESTEBAN PARRA • The News Journal • November 11, 2009

(36 comments)

The state Department of Correction has started using a new national tool to identify wanted undocumented immigrants.

Last month, correction officials signed an agreement with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to participate in the program known as 287(g), which refers to the immigration code that allows the federal government to delegate certain immigration enforcement powers to local authorities.

Under the program, trained correction officers will enter the names and fingerprints of supposed undocumented immigrants into ICE's national database.

The program has sparked outcry by immigrant advocates and civil right groups who argue it can lead to profiling, as well as alienate groups already hesitant to reach out to law enforcement.

"They decrease public safety," said Drewry Fennell, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Delaware. "If you have people who are fearful of the authorities, they can't participate in keeping their communities safe."

Correction Commissioner Carl C. Danberg said the department has been reporting suspected undocumented immigrants to immigration officials for "decades" in writing or by a phone call. The only difference now is that the process will be entered into a database.

"We have no intention of becoming ICE agents," he said. "All we have done is automated a process."

When individuals arrive at one of the facilities, they are asked for identification. If they cannot produce proof, they are asked a series of questions, including what names and aliases exist and if they are foreign-born and legally in the country. If someone acknowledges being in the country illegally or if the person is suspected of being so, Danberg said the information is turned over to ICE.

"We're not letting them know that there are people here in the country illegally. We're letting them know that there are people who committed crimes in Delaware who may also be illegal immigrants," Danberg said.

In some cases, ICE agents will take custody of the individual after he or she has served out the required sentence. Other times ICE will not take action.

Distribution of this information is similar to how DOC officials collaborate with local and state jurisdictions, who may have arrest warrants out on people being detained on other crimes in Delaware, Danberg said. "This is simply another example of that cooperation."

The automated program will take place only at Sussex Correctional Institution in Georgetown, where officials applied to participate after ICE agents suggested it to correction officers at that facility, Danberg said.

But the program's location sparked some concern.

Fewer foreign-born people live in Sussex than in New Castle County, fueling questions of profiling that have followed the program in other locations.

"It certainly raises questions for the rationale for selecting that jurisdiction," Fennell said. "Whether or not this is part of a broader effort in Sussex County to target immigrant populations is something only the DOC can answer, but it is a question that ought to be asked."

There were 9,900 people born outside this country living in Sussex County, according to the U.S. Census' 2008 estimates. That's five times less than the nearly 50,500 foreign-born people living in New Castle County.

Nationwide effort
ICE has trained more than 1,075 officers in 67 jurisdictions nationwide. Since January 2006, these officers were credited with identifying more than 130,000 persons suspected of being in the country illegally -- most of these identifications took place in jails.

But according to the national ACLU's Web site, with these agreements, the federal government has "completely shirked" its responsibility to exercise oversight and monitoring of the program. "The result has been abuse and illegal profiling by local law enforcement across the country -- all under the cloak of federal immigration authority," the Web site says.

Only 39 police, sheriff or public safety departments across the country have agreements with ICE allowing them to perform certain immigration duties outside a jail -- none in Delaware. Some police agencies, such as the Los Angeles Police Department, feel the program alienates more than helps undocumented immigrants.

"My officers can't prevent or solve crimes if victims or witnesses are unwilling to talk to us because of the fear of being deported," outgoing Los Angeles police chief William J. Bratton wrote in the Los Angeles Times.

"Criminals are the biggest benefactors when immigrants fear the police," Bratton said. "We can't solve crimes that aren't reported because the victims are afraid to come forward to the police."

State police, Delaware's largest police force, said the program works better in a prison environment, where a criminal undocumented immigrant is in custody. About the only time state troopers report undocumented immigrants to ICE is when an individual commits a crime, state police spokesman Sgt. Walter Newton said, adding state troopers work with ICE on their criminal gang initiatives and sometimes provide support when needed. But other than that, "we will not act in the capacity of ICE."

In addition to ACLU officials monitoring the local program, the Delaware Governor's Advisory Council on Hispanic Affairs (GACHA) plans to continue speaking with officials about the program.

"GACHA has been tracking this issue for some time and is aware of the signing of the memorandum with ICE in October," said Wanda Lopez, executive director of the group that advises the governor on issues impacting the state's Hispanic community.

Danberg said the automated process may help track any profiling in the prisons.

"If there is racial profiling going on, an automated system that is actually tracking inquiries is going to be more reliable and a better defense against profiling than phone calls which may never be recorded and may never be tracked except where an actual ICE action is taken," he said.

Contact Esteban Parra at 324-2299 or eparra@delawareonline.com.

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/2 ... /911110339