Jul 22, 2007
Officials: Immigrant detainers increasing
Many are caught through driver's license violations

BY BARBRA HERNANDEZ
STAR-BANNER


OCALA - Maria Perez knew of the risk. It had already happened to some of her co-workers. Only she never thought she'd be the next one.

That Friday, after collecting her weekly salary, Perez got in a borrowed car and headed home. Hours later, she was behind bars at the Marion County Jail.

"The police officer stopped me and asked to see my [driver's] license, but I didn't have one. Then, they brought me here," said Perez, a Mexican immigrant who worked at an Ocala ranch prior to her arrest on charges of driving without a valid license.

After 15 days, Perez found out she was facing deportation for being in the United States illegally. She later was released into the custody of immigration authorities after serving three months in jail.

Perez is among the dozens who have been issued immigration detainers this year in Marion County. Although records on the number of detainers are hard to come by, jail officials and local attorneys who handle immigration cases say these numbers have risen significantly in recent years.

However, federal immigration authorities in Florida say it is difficult, if not impossible, to tell whether there has been a dramatic increase in detainer activity, saying they don't have statistics available.

Detainers are holds issued by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, branch of the Department of Homeland Security to people believed to be in the country illegally. These orders prohibit the release of an inmate into the community, regardless of whether their charges are dropped or they complete jail terms, until a determination of action is made by that federal agency.

"Everyone who comes here claiming to be foreign-born, we run through ICE," said Heather Tactikos, classifications specialist at the county jail.

A recent count of inmates at the county jail showed 58 with immigration holds and three others who were waiting for a possible notification from ICE. Most of them were Mexican, though Canadians, Cubans and Nicaraguans also were among the group.

According to jail records, 114 new detainers had been placed on county inmates this year through the end of June. So far this year, 113 inmates have been released into ICE's custody.

Attorney Magda Lanza-Huber has been handling immigration cases in the county for the past nine years. This year, she has provided more legal advice on immigration holds than ever before.

The attorney says she sees one or two people each week seeking advice regarding immigration holds, compared to one or two per month at this time last year.

"I think the only increase has been concerning driver's license," Lanza-Huber said.

Ocala attorney Cynthia Tolbert agrees.
"[Authorities] are starting to catch a lot of individuals who are illegally here because of driving without the driver's license," she said.

Maj. Paul Laxton, corrections bureau chief for the county jail, agreed detainer activity likely has risen recently in Marion County.

"I sense it has increased. Certainly, over the past several years, we've seen a significant increase in the number of detainers," Laxton said. "[But] I don't have any numbers or statistics to back that up."

The county jail only started tracking detainer activity 10 months ago.

http://www.ocala.com/article/20070722/N ... 001/NEWS01