Thread: TX: Border-crime plan catches more migrants than criminals

http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_5215443

Border-crime plan catches more migrants than criminals

By Brandi Grissom / Austin Bureau
El Paso Times
Article Launched:02/13/2007 12:00:00 AM MST

AUSTIN -- A week of intensified statewide patrols meant to root out border-related crime in the state netted about twice as many undocumented immigrants as criminals, according to a report obtained Monday by the El Paso Times.
A report on the results of Operation Wrangler provided by Gov. Rick Perry's office showed that state, local and federal officials apprehended 2,747 undocumented immigrants and made at least 1,241 arrests. Some of the undocumented immigrants may have also been arrested, but officials could not say how many.

Immigrant right activists and some lawmakers worry the numbers show Texas is using money meant for fighting crime to target undocumented immigrants and is perhaps even sponsoring racial-profiling.

"What I see here is a state-sponsored border patrol," said state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso.

Texas Homeland Security Director Steve McCraw said, though, that the numbers simply show the extent of border-related crimes and illegal immigration problems. Texans' feelings of safety and well-being, along with fewer crime reports, are the true measure of the program's effectiveness, he said.

"We capture those things (arrest statistics), but none of those things really matter to us," said McCraw, who was appointed by Perry.

Perry announced Operation Wrangler on Jan. 22. He said the operation was aimed at preventing all crime and illegal international drug and human trafficking.

The first phase of the operation lasted seven days. Perry said more than 200 local police and sheriffs departments would participate in the program.

A list of participating law enforcement agencies, obtained by the El Paso Times under the Public Information Act, showed 88 local departments participated in Operation Wrangler.

McCraw said the list of 88 included only those departments that signed contracts to be reimbursed for their expenses to participate in the initiative. He said other departments participated but could not say how many.

The list shows fewer than half the departments that received the more than $4 million in federal grants Perry spent on the week-long operation were on the border or in border counties.

Departments as far away from the border as the Louisiana-Texas border and the Oklahoma-Texas border took part in the operation.

Police departments that participated were reimbursed for paying officers overtime to increase traffic patrols.

The Wrangler report showed the increased patrols led to 51,136 traffic stops in seven days. Officers wrote 25,590 tickets and 41, 550 warnings.

Chief Deputy Bob Arthur in Harrison County, which abuts Louisiana, said his 26 officers don't see much human or drug trafficking, but the county got $20,000 for the operation.

"It was an opportunity for the officers to make some more money, and we didn't have to budget for it," he said.

Lt. Charlie Evans in the Slaton Police Department, near Lubbock, said his 10 officers see a good deal of drug trafficking on the state highway. That department also got $20,000 for Wrangler.

Slaton officers, he said, made a couple of narcotics arrests and issued dozens of traffic tickets during Wrangler.

The report showed that statewide, officers made at least 1,241 arrests, including 136 for human smuggling and 300 for drug-related violations.

That's compared with 1,397 undocumented immigrants state and local officers turned over to U.S. Border Patrol during the operation and another 1,350 Border Patrol agents caught themselves.

Officers Evans and Arthur adamantly denied their departments used racial profiling in conducting traffic stops.

"Since it was immigration that it was coming from, you could kind of figure that they might want to target a particular race, but we don't do that," Arthur said.

In the El Paso area, where the sheriffs department and El Paso, Anthony and Horizon police departments participated in the operation, the report showed officers made at least seven arrests and turned over 36 undocumented Mexican immigrants to Border Patrol.

El Paso County Sheriff's Office spokesman Rick Glancey said Monday there are no final reports on Operation Wrangler, and El Paso Police Chief Richard Wiles has said that his department does not enforce immigration laws.

McCraw said tracking down undocumented immigrants was not the goal of state-led border security efforts.

"There's no immigration enforcement," he said. "It's not something we want to do here with our officers."

But Enrique Hubbard-Urrea, Consul General of Mexico in Dallas, said that seems to be exactly what some officers in that area did.

During Operation Wrangler, he said, calls to his office from immigration detention centers more than doubled.

Hubbard-Urrrea said immigrants reported that officers pulled them over for small infractions, then asked for immigration papers.

Soon after Wrangler ended, he said, calls from detention centers stopped flooding into his office.

"This looks very suspiciously like racial profiling," he said.

This is not the first time Perry's border security operations have come under fire for alleged immigrant targeting.

El Paso County Sheriff Leo Samaniego was criticized strongly for his implementation of Operation Linebacker, the first such operation Perry funded with state money. An investigation by the El Paso Times showed that during six months of Operation Linebacker, 16 border county sheriffs departments caught seven times as many immigrants as criminals.

Rather than making Texas safer, Rebecca Berhnardt, spokeswoman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, said targeting undocumented immigrants could increase crime.

"It makes it less likely that immigrant victims of crime are going to come forward," Bernhardt said. She they would not report crimes because they fear that they or their family members will be deported.

During the current legislative session, Perry is asking lawmakers to approve another $100 million in state money for border security efforts.

Since 2005, Perry has spent more than $20 million in state and federal money on border operations.

Brandi Grissom may be reached at bgrissom@elpasotimes.com;(512) 479-6606.




Wrangler stats


Traffic stops: 51,136.

Citations: 25,590.

Warnings: 41,550.

Arrests: 1,241.

Drug arrests: 308.

Human smuggling arrests: 136.

Undocumented immigrants apprehended: 2,747 (some could have also been arrested).
In El Paso area:

Traffic stops: 1,015.

Citations: 699.

Warnings: 385.

Arrests: At least 7.

Undocumented immigrants apprehended: 36.
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Border-crime plan catches more migrants than criminals

Um, they are ALL criminals doofuss.

Rather than making Texas safer, Rebecca Berhnardt, spokeswoman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, said targeting undocumented immigrants could increase crime.

"It makes it less likely that immigrant victims of crime are going to come forward," Bernhardt said.

Rebecca, you're looking at it all wrong!! If we catch all these undocumented (ILLEGAL) immigrants and send them home, they won't be here to BE victims of crime!!!
Problem solved!

Part of the job of the border patrol is to caught drug smugglers. All law enforcement should be able to enforce all laws. But I noticed that the over 2000 illegals were not arrested. Texas had them and should have arrested them. They would stealing IDs shortly.

I say profile away if it saves our State and our Country...but that is not PC....my bad and really Rick I believe will never really protect our State...because he wants his share of that NAU pie

If I made a NAU pie what would the ingredients be..fruits and nuts or Blood and guts