Thread: NC-Lopez focuses on immigration, en espanol

By KEITH UPCHURCH
kupchurch@heraldsun.com
Jul 15, 2009



DURHAM -- Police Chief Jose Lopez is slated to speak today at a forum for the Latino community about a law that lets local officers perform immigration law enforcement functions.

The law, Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, allows local officers working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to 'essentially be able to work the immigration laws,' Lopez said.

The Durham Police Department has one officer who is trained for those duties.

"That officer can do a lot of things that we otherwise would have to call immigration agents in to do,' Lopez said. "Essentially, what we use the investigator for is for criminal investigations involving individuals who shouldn't be in this country. We can use a database and the authority from [the Immigration and] Naturalization [Service] to bring them to justice, or to detain them and hold them long enough that they don't make bond.'

But Lopez emphasized that the officer is only involved in criminal matters, not in investigating anyone's immigration status.

The forum is sponsored by El Centro Hispano, which describes itself as a "grassroots community-based organization dedicated to strengthening the Latino community and improving the quality of life of Latino residents in Durham.'

It is set to begin at 5:15 p.m. at El Centro Hispano, 201 W. Main St. It will be conducted in Spanish and will include an immigration attorney, Lopez said.

"My reason for having this is to let the Latino community realize that we're not in the business of doing naturalization work here,' Lopez said. "We're in the business of law enforcement and keeping our community safe, and they need to be able to come forward and speak to us.'

Lopez will explain how the Section 287(g) law works.

"The purpose of the meeting is to educate the Latino community as far as what the 287(g) program is, because many have a misconception that the city of Durham is doing the same thing as other counties, which is not true.

"Many of those who are detained and who have issues that fall under the 287(g) are actually in other counties. Many in the Latino community come from areas where it's a federalized police department; it's hard for them to understand the fact that the city of Durham is not like Alamance County or other police departments in how it handles 287(g).'

The main difference, he said, is that Durham does no immigration status investigations. "We don't ask people about their naturalization status unless they're under investigation for a major felony.'

U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials said earlier this month that local police agencies empowered by the federal government to enforce immigration law must concentrate their effort on criminals who pose a threat to public safety, with reduced emphasis on those who commit minor crimes.

All police departments that already participate in the program must sign a new uniform memo within 90 days. Lopez said he's waiting to see what the memo looks like before signing it, 'because it has to be consistent with our philosophy here.' He said he believes it will be similar to the memo of understanding the department now works under.

Also scheduled to speak today is Maj. Paul Martin from the Durham County Sheriff's Office, who was invited to talk about the Secure Communities program.

The program is a Department of Homeland Security initiative "that improves public safety by implementing a comprehensive, integrated approach to identify and remove criminal aliens from the United States,' according to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Web site.

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' Lopez said. "We're in the business of law enforcement and keeping our community safe, and they need to be able to come forward and speak to us.'

Why is it that even law enforcement , that is in the business of law enforcement , will not enforce the law . Now a serious offense has to be committed in order for them to enforce the law .

Yea...someone needs to remind Lopez that keeping "communites safe," requires removing those who are breaking the law!!

just belittles our immigration laws more and more. These Immigration laws are here to PROTECT us American citizens. When you make them less effective or do not recognize them at all, we are FAR FAR less safe. UNACCEPTABLE.