http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me ... -headlines

Police Split on Migrant Plan
Orange County efforts to check suspects' status are lauded by foes of illegal immigration, but not by L.A. County's law enforcement leadership.
By Richard Winton and Daniel Yi
Times Staff Writers

8:26 PM PST, January 22, 2006

The push by two Orange County police agencies to arrange training for some of their officers to help enforce federal immigration laws has opened a rift in Southern California law enforcement circles, with some officials fearing the move will harm crime-fighting efforts.

The Costa Mesa Police Department and Orange County Sheriff's Department are developing plans for their officers to be trained alongside federal immigration agents so they can understand and help enforce immigration laws.

They are among the first in the nation to seek the training, and their effort has generated both interest from other agencies and protests from immigrants' rights groups.

"Dozens of jurisdictions have reached out to us and asked us for copies of this policy," said Jon Fleischman, a spokesman for the Sheriff's Department. "Like with any instrument that provides a resource to find criminals, departments are looking at this to see if this will help fight crime."

But in Los Angeles, the county's two top cops â€â€