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HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Front page

June 22, 2006, 1:17AM



Will Houston remain a sanctuary city?
Some say the national debate over immigration gives new group's petition a chance
By ALEXIS GRANT
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

The heated national debate on immigration may give a boost to the Houston group that wants local police to help crack down on illegal immigrants, but getting the proposition on the ballot still won't be easy.

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"It is a lot of effort and takes a lot of volunteers to mount a campaign like this," said Bruce Hotze, who has helped organize several successful petition drives but so far is not involved in this one. "It can be done."

On Tuesday, a new group called Protect Our Citizens announced a petition drive to require a citywide November vote on the contentious issue of whether to allow city police to question people about their immigration status.

Even with the recent spotlight on immigration issues, getting the necessary 20,000 signatures from registered Houston voters by Sept. 1 will take organization, volunteers and money, analysts said.

"It's doable," said University of Houston political scientist and pollster Richard Murray. "They'd have to hit the ground running."

Protect Our Citizens director Mary Williams said the group is doing that. It was contacted Wednesday by several community leaders and residents who wanted to help with the project, she said.

"It's a very basic grass-roots type of reaction," Williams said.

Petition supporters want to change a Houston police order, which they call a "sanctuary policy," that prohibits officers from seeking information about the immigration status of people they encounter, and from detaining anyone solely for being in the country illegally.

They are allowed to inquire about the status of people arrested for other crimes.

Protect Our Citizens wants to get a measure on the general election ballot that would amend the city charter to permit officers to make immigration status inquiries. It would not require that they do so.

Williams would not say how many volunteers are working with the organization or how much money they had raised for the effort — except that they would surely need more. But she expressed confidence in the group's strategy, which depends largely on the Internet.

Under federal law being in the country illegally is a civil and not a criminal offense.

The group's Web site provides a copy of the petition that supporters can download, sign and circulate. "This issue has a life of its own," Williams said. "They'll take it and run with it if they care about it."


Going to the people
The group also plans to seek signatures at public events and through a telephone campaign, Williams said.

The police policy has generated vehement opposition since it was ordered in 1992, but it has strong support from many city and police officials.

Mayor Bill White said Tuesday that local law enforcement should not be responsible for upholding immigration law.

"We do not want to reduce the ability of police to investigate crimes by making them do the work of the federal authorities," he said.

Questioning people about their immigration status hinders officers' ability to gain the trust of the people they serve, supporters of the policy say.

"Clearly we have a lot of contacts on a daily basis with people who are not here legally, but that is not to say that they are violating some city ordinance or state law. We deal with them because they are involved in accidents, or they are victims of crime," said HPD spokesman Sgt. David Crain. "If they fear that when we pull up, that we're there only trying to seek out what their status is, we will lose that trust."

Police departments in several other cities with large immigrant populations, including San Antonio, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, have similar policies against checking on immigration status until after a suspect has been arrested on criminal charges.

"We let (immigration authorities) do their job, and we do ours," said Senior Cpl. Donna Hernandez, a Dallas police spokeswoman.

The position is not universal. Although the Phoenix Police Department does not enforce immigration laws, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office there does.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio permits deputies to arrest people suspected of being illegal immigrants and charge them with a felony under state law. On Wednesday, the Maricopa County Jail held 241 such suspects.

"I'm the only law enforcement officer in Arizona, probably in the whole country, arresting illegals along with the coyotes who transport them," he said. " We put 'em all in jail."

Randy Capps, an immigration specialist at the Urban Institute in Washington, said local agencies often don't have the resources to enforce immigration law.

"It's the logistics of determining (immigration status) and then housing and then picking up and transporting a lot of people that's costly and difficult," Capps said. "I think that means these kinds of ordinances are likely to be weakly enforced."

The Major Cities Chiefs Association, a national group headed by Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt, asked Congress earlier this month to consider recommendations on immigration policing, including a measure making it voluntary for local police to enforce federal law.

Chronicle reporters Matt Stiles, Mike Taylor and Mike Glenn contributed to this report.

alexis.grant@chron.com


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