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Unwanted burden
for immigration enforcement

July 16, 2009, 8:56PM

In recent years Houston police officers have been wounded or killed by felons here illegally, several of the perpetrators having returned from Mexico after being previously deported. Those tragedies have spurred officials from Harris County and now Houston to enlist in a federal program to identify and deport already jailed noncitizens with criminal records.

Houston Mayor Bill White and Houston Police Department Chief Harold Hurtt have long opposed using police to enforce federal immigration laws. The city maintains a policy that prohibits officers from questioning people on the street about their citizenship status.

The mayor and chief contend that such tactics would tax the capabilities of an understaffed force, discourage cooperation by noncitizens in criminal investigations and raise the issue of racial profiling.

Nevertheless, the city is preparing to enroll in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) program known as 287(g). Harris County began participating last year. It trains local agency jailers to question prisoners and use a Department of Homeland Security database to screen their citizenship status and criminal histories. Those positively identified are held for federal detainment and eventual deportation to their home countries. The stated goal of the federal effort is to target only the most dangerous illegal immigrants.

It's not cheap. Chief Hurtt estimates it will cost the city up to $2 million annually to operate after 22 officers receive training.

As reported by the Chronicle's Susan Carroll, the screening process at the Harris County jail is sweeping up many people arrested for minor infractions, including overdue tickets.

While 159 suspects held for detainment by the county in the first six months of the program were found to have prior aggravated felony convictions, another 1,624 were held for infractions such as DWI and trespassing. Less than 10 percent of those caught in the ICE screening fit the profile of serious criminals.

If that pattern is replicated at the city jail, the issues that prompted the HPD “don't ask-don't tellâ€