Undocumented, unwelcome

Calif. city turning up heat on illegal immigrants


Cars lined Elder Place in Escondido, Calif. A proposed parking ordinance is meant to discourage multiple families from sharing a single home, according to Councilman Ed Gallo. (don bartletti/los angeles times)
By Anna Gorman
Los Angeles Times / July 18, 2008

ESCONDIDO, Calif. - Escondido city officials refuse to give up.

Two years ago, the city passed an ordinance to punish landlords for renting to illegal immigrants. But it rescinded the rental restriction after a legal challenge was filed and bills began to mount.

Now Escondido is trying a new approach to what it calls the "public nuisances" of illegal immigration, citing residents for code violations such as garage conversions, graffiti, and junk cars. The city is also debating a new ordinance that would restrict overnight street parking without a permit. In addition, it is drafting a policy that would prohibit drivers from picking up day laborers along some streets.

"We learned from the rental ordinance," City Councilman Sam Abed said. "We changed our focus to quality-of-life issues."

Like many city leaders frustrated with the federal government, Escondido officials said they were taking immigration enforcement into their own hands. They said they were fighting the perception that Escondido, a city in affluent northern San Diego County with a burgeoning Hispanic population, has become a destination for illegal immigrants.

Councilman Ed Gallo said he regularly receives complaints from Escondido residents about illegal immigrants crowding schools, hospitals, and neighborhoods.

"If you are not here legally, you don't belong here," Gallo said. "We're talking about image and appearance. . . . We are trying to change the image of Escondido."

The city's police department is also playing a role.

Police Chief Jim Maher said his department conducted two "criminal alien" sweeps this year. Officers identified illegal immigrants with criminal records who had been deported but then returned. In two sweeps, Escondido police arrested 31 illegal immigrants and turned them over to federal authorities for possible deportation.

The police department's most controversial move, however, was establishing checkpoints to find unlicensed drivers. Last year, the department set up 18 license checkpoints, resulting in 293 impounded cars, 14 arrests, and 296 citations. Maher said those checkpoints helped officers find at least 290 unlicensed drivers and helped reduce the city's number of hit-and-run crashes.

"Some folks say they are controversial because they target a specific segment of the population," he said. "Our checkpoints are for one reason and one reason only: traffic safety."

Escondido officers ask about immigration status only if the drivers do not have licenses. Illegal immigrants are not eligible to obtain driver's licenses in California. In the last six months of 2007, officers identified six illegal immigrants and referred them to federal authorities.

Escondido is one of dozens of cities around the country that have employed local ordinances in an attempt to "purge their populations of illegal immigrants," said Wayne Cornelius, who directs the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies at the University of California at San Diego.
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