Immigration enforcement in Nebraska largely falls to feds

Story By NANCY HICKS
Lincoln Journal Star
Posted: Friday, May 21, 2010 11:50 pm


While Arizona's new law will allow police to aggressively deal with suspected illegal immigrants, Nebraska -- like most states -- leaves much of this work to the federal government.

In Nebraska, there is little attempt to track down illegal immigrants and report them to Immigration and Customs Enforcement because neither local agencies nor the federal government have the staff to deal with the thousands of people in the country illegally.

"The emphasis for us is on criminal aliens," said ICE spokesman Greg Palmore. "Our focus is on individuals who are the largest public safety threat."

Last fiscal year -- October through September -- 387,790 people were deported from the U.S.
In the five-state region that includes Nebraska, more than 6,300 were deported, he said.

Palmore cautions against hasty assumptions about who is here illegally.
"Roughly 70 percent of the people suspected as illegal are here under some legitimate status," he said.

For security reasons, the agency doesn't provide the number of employees, Palmore said.
Here's what some local and state organizations said about how they handle illegal immigrants.

Lincoln police

When someone who was born in another country gets booked into Lancaster County Jail, police send their fingerprints to ICE to check their immigration status, said Lincoln Police Chief Tom Casady.

Then ICE can decide to take action.

"On rare occasions when we are being tormented so much by someone (repeated arrests) who is either a resident alien or an illegal alien, we have appealed directly to ICE to help us," Casady said.

"We would never pick up someone because we are suspicious that they are here illegally," he said. "If we have pulled someone over for speeding or contacted them on the street, the last thing in the world I want is to have my officers delay people so we can check on their immigration status. That's unlawful detention.

"We can't hold people because we think they might be illegal."

Lancaster County Jail

In 2009, ICE asked the jail to detain 105 of the 10,800 people booked during the year. Of those, ICE picked up 57.

"They (ICE) come and take them," said County Corrections Director Mike Thurber. "I don't know what they do with them."

That's about five a month, and they came from many countries, including Sudan, Mexico and Vietnam, he said.

Nebraska hospitals

Federal and state laws require hospitals to provide emergency medical care to everyone, including people in the country illegally, said Bruce Rieker, a vice president for the Nebraska Hospital Association.

"We have to provide a medical screening. We have to treat and stabilize them before discharge. We have the obligation to do all of that without ever asking for identification or the ability to pay," Rieker said.

This reflects a balance between public health concerns and other issues, he said.

Policymakers did not want to put roadblocks in the way of people seeking care.

"With some communicable illness, we want them to come to the hospital without fear of being reported," Rieker said.

In addition, the federal privacy law, HIPAA, requires privacy of all information between provider and recipient.

"There is no state or federal mandate that trumps the privacy issue when it comes to lack of documentation.

"That's why we don't turn them over to ICE."

Nebraska State Patrol

In 2009, the Nebraska State Patrol had 13 incidents in which troopers encountered people they believed were in the country illegally and then contacted ICE.

Troopers find people without proper documentation during traffic stops, drug stops and other investigations, said patrol chief Col. Bryan Tuma.

"We do not go out and investigate complaints of illegal immigrants."

The patrol has no authority to enforce immigration laws. That is a federal responsibility, he said.

The patrol has looked at what is called the 282 program, through which state or local police get rigorous training and become partners in immigration enforcement, Tuma said. It was too costly, in both money and staffing time.

The patrol does not have enough staff to do its traditional work, plus take on immigration, he said.

"It's a policy issue. Do you want state and local law enforcement engaged in immigration issues, which are typically the purview of the federal government?"

State Health and Human Services

The federal government requires the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services to report any person applying for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (often called Aid to Dependent Children) if there has been a formal determination they are here illegally.

That means if there is a deportation order, said HHS spokeswoman Kathie Osterman.

The state is not required and doesn't report people who apply for other programs, but don't have proper documentation, she said.

Reach Nancy Hicks at 402-473-7250 or nhicks@journalstar.com.

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