Feds stepping up assistance in rounding up illegal immigrants

PHOENIX -- Metro Phoenix law enforcement agencies say they are receiving much better cooperation from federal immigrations officials than they have in the past.


Over the past year, 6,000 undocumented immigrants have been picked up after authorities called Immigration and Customs Enforcement for assistance.

That's a dramatic difference from just a few years ago when police agencies were complaining loudly about a lack of cooperation with the feds over the handling of drop houses or vehicles used in smuggling illegal immigrants into the U.S.

ICE officials say they now are on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week with uniformed officers ready to respond to local police.

"I think we can boast that we've had a 100 percent response rate," said Jon Gurule, deputy field office director of ICE's detention-and-removal operations in Phoenix.

Over 12 months, ICE officers responded to 993 calls from local police, resulting in 6,251 arrests, Gurule said. That is five times as many responses as the previous 12 months, which resulted in 3,009 arrests.

"Anytime we call, they've come," said Sgt. Tim Mason, a DPS spokesman. "Things have improved with ICE. In the past, when we've called, they may not have had the resources or manpower to respond."

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has complained in the past that ICE wasn't responding to his deputies calls for assistance.

The sheriff says there's been improvement. "When we need help, like at a drophouse, they respond," he said.

Anti-illegal immigration groups said they have been pushing local police to call in the feds when they encounter someone they suspect is in the U.S. illegally.

"The practice could prevent future crimes," said Rusty Childress, founder of United for a Sovereign America, a grass-roots group that favors stricter border and immigration controls. "Any time you have a crime committed by an illegal immigrant, that crime shouldn't have happened because those people shouldn't be here," Childress said.

Civil libertarians and immigrant rights advocates said they're concerned about racial profiling when local police call in ICE during routine traffic stops.

The likelihood of being reported to ICE during a traffic stop "depends on which city you are in," said Judy Flanagan, a Phoenix immigration lawyer.

Local police should be calling ICE when they encounter smuggling and criminal activity but not during routine stops for minor traffic violations, said Alessandra Soler Meetze, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Arizona.

"It's going to cause a large segment of the community to be reluctant to call police," she said.

Information from: The Arizona Republic, http://www.azcentral.com

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