How locals can best help feds enforce immigration laws

By: North County Times Opinion staff
January 18, 2007

Our view: Screening in Escondido, county jails good examples of cooperation with federal effort

Illegal immigration and how to respond to it is one of the most divisive issues of our era and our area. But there are a few points on which we should all agree, where the center should settle and spread. And square in the middle of that common ground should be the federal focus on removing illegal immigrants who have committed other crimes.

Two such efforts were highlighted in North County Times stories over the weekend.


At San Diego County's four jails, including the Vista Detention Facility, federal agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement are screening more and more people for their immigration status. In late September, they added a second shift, and expect next month to be working around the clock to identify illegal immigrants before they are booked and released back onto San Diego County streets. With increasing staffing, training and use of a digital database, the feds hope to triple the 3,000 to 5,000 inmates they now divert from county jails to federal custody. That's good news.

In Escondido, police Chief Jim Maher is developing a series of ways in which the city can best target criminal illegal immigrants, a package expected to come before the City Council this month. As part of Maher's package, a federal ICE agent is inspecting the immigration status of the city's documented gang members, and has identified about 30 for possible deportation. That's also good news, though a bit more problematic than the county effort.

Both city and county efforts are well-targeted, rational responses to what most folks agree is a growing problem. Crucially, in both cases federal agents are the ones verifying the immigration status of suspects, not city or county employees. And both efforts are targeting people who aren't just here illegally, but are also violating other laws.

It's no coincidence that both the Escondido Police Department and the San Diego County Sheriff's Department are led by men who have demonstrated admirable leadership in guiding their departments through the dangerous waters of immigration enforcement. What links these otherwise very different men is the recognition that, due to financial constraints as much as other concerns, their agencies must prioritize enforcing local and state laws.

Sheriff Bill Kolender has resisted tasking his deputies with immigration screening at the county's jails, correctly arguing that their time is better spent on the streets. We hope Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials fulfill their obligations to a county contending with growing pains exacerbated by unchecked illegal immigration.

Chief Maher appears to be deftly delineating a policy that will both satisfy the Escondido City Council majority, which wants to reap the political benefits of looking tough on today's pariahs, and respect city taxpayers by limiting the department's role in federal law enforcement. We eagerly await the details of his immigration-enforcement policy for a city in sore need of sound leadership on the issue.

Though we deplore the fear and violence sown by criminal gangs on our streets, we remain wary of some of the tools that law enforcers are using to squash them. Deporting criminal gang members who are here illegally is a no-brainer, but targeting people based solely on whom they associate with still wobbles the scales of justice. Where Escondido and ICE are catching criminals, we applaud them, but we hope their net's mesh isn't so fine that it sweeps up folks whose only crime is hanging out with the wrong crowd.

The best way our local law enforcement agencies can address the problems associated with illegal immigration is by enabling federal agents in the enforcement of federal laws. Sometimes that will mean actively assisting federal efforts. Sometimes it will mean getting out of their way. Sometimes, as in the case of federal reimbursement to local governments grappling with immigration, it may mean political lobbying. But a federal problem needs a federal response most of all.

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Comments On This Story

Walk down wrote on January 17, 2007 1:04 PM:"North Fig at night if you are such brave honorable American citizens. Don't give me trash about there is no problem with illegals when you live in your nice neighborhoods. Maybe what you need is trucks dumping shopping carts in your neighborhood, loud mexican music at 1:00am, I am sure you will stand up for the illegals rights. Quit lying and help American Citizens that need help against the illegal invasion. "

El Guero wrote on January 17, 2007 1:48 PM:"How very nearly inspiring that the editors would recommend the federal focus should be on removing illegal immigrants who have committed other crimes. Could we also include document fraud as an 'other crime'? That would cast the net much more widely and catch a lot more people, which is why I'd guess the editors would want to limit the category to murder, rape, assault, etc. Of course the feds should be doing everything they're not doing now, like send teams of inspectors to the human resources offices of hotels, meatpacking plants, construction companies, restaurants, etc. to check the social security numbers of employees. If the IRS can send auditors around the country to inspect the books of large, small, and mid-sized companies, there's no reason ICE couldn't do the same. It's not just illegal immigrants who 'commit other crimes' that are the problem; it's all illegal immigrants. If you're going to go after those who commit other crimes, don't get selective about which other crimes."

Reardon wrote on January 17, 2007 3:57 PM:"ICE needs to just drive around and park in the parking lot of El Tigre. It could park in front of the emergency rooms. It could park in front of the schools. The law says the illegals have some sort of extra-legal, unwritten "sanctuary" in the schools and emergency rooms -- but not one foot off those properties. Take a green van to building sites of commercial and developer housing projects...just arrest those who run! The local Escondido police need to read about Rudy's "Broken Windows" policy in New York City. Let the word out that Escondido cares about illegal activity of all sorts. It will make a difference."

anotherview wrote on January 17, 2007 5:35 PM:"The myopic view of the NCT Opinion staff hinders rather than helps in the movement to free America of illegal aliens. The criminal illegal aliens surely represent the unquestioned worst negative impact from the presence of illegal aliens. (America already has enough criminals.) As a national problem, however, the presence of illegal aliens requires a nation-wide solution, including the involvement of local and state police forces, perhaps with some federal funding. Mandating employers to require all current employees and job applicants to produce a national ID to prove a legal right to work will also support the removal of illegal aliens from America. Every other modern nation, including Mexico, controls who lives and works within the exterior boundaries of the nation. America must follow suit to rid the country of illegal aliens. In turn, America will prosper all the more. America can get along fine without illegal aliens. "

Vista Citizen wrote on January 17, 2007 5:57 PM:""Sheriff Bill Kolender has resisted tasking his deputies with immigration screening at the county's jails, correctly arguing that their time is better spent on the streets." Wrong! It would be great if the feds would do their job and screen for all illegals, but it if the feds can not or will not do it then local law enforcement must do it to protect the citizens. That's what they get paid to do."

Reardon wrote on January 17, 2007 7:37 PM:"We not only have a sufficient number of criminals without importing more, but we have a sufficient number of illiterate school dropouts. There is no need to import more."

More ICE wrote on January 17, 2007 9:08 PM:"Escondido needs more ICE agents assigned to Escondido. If five ICE agents were assigned, and they could each identify 5 persons per day for deportation, they could address about 9,000 illegal aliens in a year."

Actual Invasion wrote on January 17, 2007 9:13 PM:"Once a large number of foreign nationals illegally enter into the jurisdiction of a State, that State has equal jurisdiction with the Federal Government to wage war against the invasion. The States retained this power in the U.S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 10 (3rd paragraph), which provides that "No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, . . . engage in War, unless actually invaded . . . " Actions by the Federal Government to stop State and Local efforts to address this actual invasion are unconstitutional!"

Dangerous Waters wrote on January 17, 2007 9:34 PM:"The waters of immigration enforcement are dangerous? Yes. Because La Raza, the ACLU, and the NCTimes will call that person a racist if any effective immigration enforcement is undertaken, whether at the Federal, State, or local level. Read these articles for proof: http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/06 ... 29_04.txt; http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/01 ... 92828.txt; http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/12 ... 16_04.txt; http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/04 ... 94028.txt; http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/04 ... _11_06.txt"

Frida wrote on January 17, 2007 10:21 PM:"Interesting point of view. I do hope that this new proposal will not violate other laws and will not target innocent people. It's a hard and complicated issue but our community can get thru this. "

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