Immigration agent offers staff to check whether jailed suspects are here legally.
By JEFF OVERLEY
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
COSTA MESA – A top immigration officer Thursday offered to staff Costa Mesa's jail with federal agents who would eventually check the status of every person booked there, capping a year of community upheaval and potentially dealing a major victory to controversial Mayor Allan Mansoor.

James T. Hayes Jr., a field office director with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, outlined his proposal in a letter dated Thursday to interim city police Chief Steven Staveley. The plan calls for one federal agent to staff the jail and check whether suspected criminals are in the country lawfully. Illegal immigrants could be subject to deportation under the plan, which would be federally funded.

"I think it's something that is going to benefit the city of Costa Mesa, and be good for public safety for the people of Orange County," Hayes said in an interview.

Hayes said he hadn't yet spoken with Costa Mesa officials, and that his proposal was simply a starting point for discussion. Staveley couldn't be reached for comment, and city attorney Kimberly Hall Barlow said city officials weren't aware of the letter.

"All we've been asking all along is that the federal government do its job," Mansoor said upon hearing of the letter. "This is very reasonable, and it's the very least we should be doing, and it should have been done a long time ago."

A divided City Council voted in December to check the documentation of certain suspected criminals, the first city in the nation to do so. The council wanted a plan similar to one pursued by Sheriff Michael Carona, who recently won federal backing to train deputies in screening arrestees for immigration status.

In Costa Mesa, where one-third of residents claim Hispanic backgrounds, opposition sprang up immediately last year. A group of local leaders called Return to Reason emerged and made a failed attempt to oust Mansoor from office in last week's election.

"The community is going to lose trust in its officials, especially its police department," said Lupe Gomez of the nonprofit Zacatecas Federation, a group that provides scholarships to local students.

On the other hand, Mansoor's proposal won him many fans, including local resident Martin Millard, who on Thursday dismissed the notion that immigration enforcement would cleave the community.

"I'm getting a little tired of the word 'division,' " Millard said. "They said the plan would cause division. They said the election would cause division. It's nonsense. The law should be enforced. It's not a complicated thing."

Costa Mesa has been referring five to seven arrestees a week to federal agents for immigration checks, Hayes said, adding that the number was high compared to other Orange County cities. Federal immigration agents have periodically staffed other city jails in the county, he said.

Until last year, agents would stop by two or three times a week to review the custody roster in Costa Mesa's jail, city police Lt. Loren Wyrick said.

Hayes, who took his post in August, declined to say whether he is working with other cities on similar plans.

CONTACT US: 714-445-6683 or joverley@ocregister.com


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