Posted on Sat, Jul. 25, 2009 Comments (12)

Many police chiefs say enforcing immigration laws splits community, sidetracks officers

By NATHANIEL JONESnjones@star-telegram.com


Arlington immigration attorney Ollie Jefferson says there is one basic rule for illegal immigrants trying to avoid deportation: Stay out of jail.

"I’ve met people who have been here illegally 20 years, and after one arrest they are being deported," Jefferson said. "I tell people all the time: Avoid domestic disputes, driving drunk or any other public nuisance that can get you in jail."

While some groups advocate that local police departments enforce federal immigration laws, many aren’t interested in doing so unless criminal activity is involved.

Jails in Arlington, Fort Worth and elsewhere in Tarrant County notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement of possible illegal immigrants being held there. Those inmates are then detained on an immigration hold.

Illegal immigrants’ names also show up during routine jail checks by federal agents.

"It takes a lot of training to understand our complicated immigration laws," Jefferson said. "What if that person is in the process of extending their stay and they have some documents that allow them to stay? It opens a whole other can of worms."

Last month, Arlington Police Chief Theron Bowman attended a news conference in Washington, D.C., with other police chiefs from across the nation who object to a federal program that trains and authorizes local law enforcement agencies to perform immigration checks.

A report released by the group said performing such checks would raise tensions between police departments and their communities.

"By creating partners, we avoid creating foes," Bowman said at the time.

Fort Worth and Tarrant County officials said illegal immigration is a border control issue. Bowman and other officials say already tight resources must be diverted to enforce federal laws. Their involvement could also tie officers up in court, they said.

"While immigration laws are important, we have to do our jobs," said Terry Grisham, a spokesman for the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Department. "If we’re out enforcing immigration laws, then we’re not out looking for intoxicated drivers or investigating house burglaries."

Focusing solely on immigration is not what residents of a city as diverse as Fort Worth expect from their police department, Lt. Paul Henderson said.

"It would give off the perception that we are targeting a certain group of people in our community," he said. "Our focus continues to be on protecting our residents."

One advocate for local enforcement said the departments’ reluctance may be political.

"Local police departments get involved in federal issues all the time," said Dave McElwee, president of the Tarrant Alliance for Responsible Government. "They don’t just sit on their thumbs whenever there’s a robbery of a federal bank or a kidnapping that crosses state lines. The truth is, local departments don’t get involved because of the politics."

Arlington’s Bowman said he does support a new federal program that checks the immigration status of all inmates booked into local jails. Names and fingerprints are matched with a federal criminal database.

"I think the pilot program gives us the opportunity to combat illegal immigration without creating an unfunded mandate," Bowman said.


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