Patrol program targeting illegal immigrants growing

THE WASHINGTON POST
2:00 a.m. October 16, 2009

WASHINGTON — A controversial federal program that deputizes state and local law enforcement agents to catch illegal immigrants is expanding under the Obama administration, despite changes announced this summer intended to curb alleged racial profiling and other police abuses.

The Department of Homeland Security is expected to report this morning that a small number of the 66 participating agencies have dropped out because of the new federal requirements, officials said. Those losses are offset by applications from 13 additional police and sheriff's departments, a federal official said, speaking on condition of anonymity before the formal announcement.

Nationwide, the program identified about 60,000 illegal immigrants for deportation over the past year, the highest number since the program was expanded nationwide in 2006. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said in July that agencies receiving federal grants and training under the program would have 90 days to agree to new terms aimed at ending controversial police practices identified by congressional auditors and civil rights groups. Critics cited cases in which police conducted roadside stops and neighborhood sweeps aimed at Latinos and other ethnic groups, often arresting minorities for traffic and other minor offenses in pursuit of illegal immigrants.

Instead of scaling back the program, as its critics wanted, Homeland Security has reshaped it. The agency has reined in local police units that target illegal immigrants at large, directing the units instead to focus on those who commit major drug offenses or violent crimes, especially those already incarcerated. Most prominently, the agency cut back authority it had given to Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, according to Arpaio. His operations in the Phoenix metropolitan area had led to charges of racial profiling and three federal investigations.

Although those and similar tactics had drawn the most controversy, they accounted for a small fraction of the 135,389 illegal immigrants caught under the program, according to new federal data obtained by The Washington Post.  The vast majority — 94 percent — were found by checks at local and state jails. Homeland Security is moving to expand jail checks, adding such agreements with eight new agencies, a federal official said.

“We've refocused the program on identifying and removing serious criminal offenders, whether in jail or on the street,â€