Thread: Officers in S. Fla. help immigration agents make arrests

Seeing some cracks in MSM coverage.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14662412.htm

IMMIGRATION

Officers in S. Fla. help immigration agents make arrests

BY ALFONSO CHARDY

achardy@MiamiHerald.com
Immigration advocates fear that the escalating involvement of local police in immigration-related arrests will further erode an already tense relationship between South Florida's immigrant communities and officers entrusted with keeping people safe.

Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, it has become routine for all major South Florida police departments to assist immigration authorities during arrests in certain cases. Some local police agencies also call immigration officials if a criminal suspect appears undocumented.

''We have started down the slippery slope toward local enforcement of federal immigration work that is problematic because immigration law is very complicated and best left to those properly trained,'' said Randolph McGrorty, executive director of the Archdiocese of Miami's Catholic Charities Legal Services.

The role of local police in immigration enforcement has rankled immigration advocates as Congress resumes debate on immigration reform. Foes of undocumented immigrants want to expand the powers of local police by essentially deputizing officers as immigration agents. Currently, state and local officers can act as immigration agents at the request of federal authorities under signed agreements.

Such agreements are in effect among some jurisdictions in Florida, Alabama, Arizona, North Carolina and California. Florida's agreement with the Department of Homeland Security initially covered about 35 agents under the supervision of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

South Florida's police departments generally prohibit officers from asking people they stop about their immigration status.

However, local police have been offering backup help in targeted immigration arrests, and they summon immigration authorities if they discover during a traffic stop that the person's driver's license is listed in a federal computer database that local police routinely check. The database contains the names of tens of thousands of people who allegedly have evaded deportation orders.

''If we do get an alert on the computer, then we are required to notify [Immigration and Customs Enforcement], but we do not solicit for that information,'' said Coral Gables police spokesman Mike Frevola.

OPEN PARTNERSHIPS

The federal agency has made no secret of its partnership with local law-enforcement agencies. During ICE's weeklong Operation Phoenix last month, when 183 people ere arrested statewide, ICE credited Miami-Dade County police, Miami police, Hialeah police, the Broward Sheriff's Office and the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, among others, for their involvement.

Barbara Gonzalez, the Miami ICE spokeswoman, said that local police merely provide security around the perimeter when ICE agents move to arrest felons or deportation absconders, and that the police do not participate in the arrest itself.

''Among our highest priorities when enforcing the law is ensuring the safety and security of everyone involved,'' Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez would not say how often ICE requests help from local police, but said it is ''on a case-by-case basis,'' depending on a suspect's criminal history and local police officers' familiarity with the area where an arrest will take place.

Some of President Bush's critics in his own Republican Party believe that the administration should tap local police to enforce immigration laws as a way to deter unauthorized immigration -- in addition to enlisting the National Guard in border security. They maintain that police officers, estimated at more than 600,000 nationwide, could quickly boost the reach of the 5,500 ICE agents and 11,000 Border Patrol officers in the country.

FUNDS FOR THE BORDER

Bush already has outlined plans to increase federal funding for state and local authorities in U.S.-Mexico border communities to assist the Border Patrol on ``targeted enforcement missions.''

A bill approved by the House of Representatives in December could deepen the role of local police in immigration enforcement because it would criminalize unlawful presence in the country, currently a civil infraction. The distinction is one of the reasons behind local agencies' reluctance to enforce immigration law. Police traditionally target criminal violations.

''A lot of victims of crime refuse to report it because they are afraid we are checking for documents, and we don't,'' said Miami police spokeswoman Herminia Salas-Jacobson.

`TRUST AND SUPPORT'

Cheryl Little, executive director of the Miami-based Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, noted that in 2002, Miami-Dade officials concluded that police should not be acting as immigration cops. She said it is ''crucial'' for police ``to maintain the trust and support of immigrants in promoting public safety.''

McGrorty noted that Miami police already had upset some immigrants because one of their vehicles carries the logo ''Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security.'' Salas-Jacobson said that unit deals only with emergencies, such as flooding after hurricanes -- not immigration enforcement.

Officials of South Florida's major police departments said their agencies generally limit their help to providing security when immigration agents are conducting an arrest or in certain cases involving criminal suspects.

''They want a patrol unit to stand by, and if the situation escalates, provide immediate backup,'' said Sgt. Pete Palenzuela of the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office.

Local officers sometimes help ICE track down foreign criminals.

''We work jointly with ICE in investigative aspects, or as needed, hand in hand and very closely,'' said Robert Williams, a spokesman for Miami-Dade police.

Added Jim Leljedal of the Broward Sheriff's Office: ``There are lots of cases that we work together.''

TRAFFIC CASES

Hialeah Deputy Police Chief Mark Overton said that as a rule, his officers will not ask people about immigration status during traffic stops unless the person is arrested and does not have a driver's license.

Salas-Jacobson cited a recent case in which immigration status became relevant when Miami police detectives investigated a Nicaraguan who allegedly groped a 12-year-old girl in a department store in 2003. The suspect was Bayardo Rafael Chamorro of Nicaragua, a registered sex offender with a long criminal record -- and no immigration papers, she said.

Immigration officials were alerted. Chamorro faces deportation after he finishes his 15-year sentence in state prison.

that is problematic because immigration law is very complicated

How complicated could it be. If you are here illegally you get deported. Does not seem so complicated to me but then again the government makes everything complicated.

"Complicated" and "Complex"

Those are two buzz words they use when they want to pretend you are not smart enough to understand.

We understand.

The local police help in federal enforcement in many ways - why is this any different.

Gee,
We should be very careful not to upset anyone:

" McGrorty noted that Miami police already had upset some immigrants because one of their vehicles carries the logo ''Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security.'' Salas-Jacobson said that unit deals only with emergencies, such as flooding after hurricanes -- not immigration enforcement."

''We have started down the slippery slope toward local enforcement of federal immigration work that is problematic because immigration law is very complicated and best left to those properly trained,'' said Randolph McGrorty, executive director of the Archdiocese of Miami's Catholic Charities Legal Services.

This is the arguement they always use, when they don't want enforcement. They know the federal government is unlikely to enforce the law.