Column No. 4950       

HISPANIC LINK         

08/22/10

NCLR CALLS FOR END OF FEDERAL ‘PUBLIC SAFETY’ PROGRAM

By Raisa Camargo

Hispanic Link News Service   

  

The National Council of La Raza is refuting the implementation of 287(g) as a means to promote public safety. It does just the opposite, an NCLR survey released Aug 12 claims. Its report found that the federal program has led to more arrests of non-criminals, often citing racial profiling, while rupturing cooperation between police and the Hispanic community.

  

The survey, conducted with the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) in Davidson County was shared in a teleconference with Hispanic Link News Service. It found that 42 percent of Latino respondents knew of a crime that was not reported to the police, in many cases out of fear of deportation.

  

The 287(g) program was enacted in 1996 to remove undocumented immigrants who commit felonies. It authorizes local and state officers to ask individuals whom they suspect of having committed a crime whether they have legal U.S. residence. The program was expanded after Sept. 11, 2001, to counter terrorism.

  

NCLR said that 85 percent of persons arrested by the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office under 287(g) were for misdemeanors.

  

“This is a critical juncture for the Latino community, more broadly as we head into this election,” said Eric Rodríguez, NCLR vice president in the Office of Research, Advocacy and Legislation during a teleconference, “We start to see polls that continue to show growing concern amongst Latinos’ interactions with law enforcement, concerns about deportation of themselves and their loved ones, including those who are U.S. citizens, and just a growing climate of fear and intimidation.”

  

The willingness to report a crime to police varied among blacks and Latinos with similar economic conditions. More than half of Latino respondents (54 percent) said they would not report a crime; 27 percent of black respondents said the same, according to the survey.

  

According to the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office, the program was necessary to identify dangerous criminals who were undocumented.

  

Stephen Fotopulos, executive director of the TIRRC stated during the teleconference:

  

“What we have found now, three and a half years later, is in fact the vast majority of people who have been caught up in this program and deported are minor offenders without criminal histories, with a full half of them being arrested for traffic violations.”

  

Only nine percent of 280 immigrants who were apprehended under the program were “dangerous criminals,” according to NCLR. It cited a report by the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security released in April.

  

Fotopulos accused police officers of predetermining which individuals are here illegally.

  

He cited the case of Juana Villegas, a pregnant woman entering labor was stopped in Davidson County for a misdemeanor traffic violation. After her water broke, she was shackled to her hospital bed. She faces deportation.

  

Fotopulos said the police officer was questioned as to why he didn’t issue a citation after Villegas provided identification from Mexico, he said it wasn’t necessary. ‘If she is here illegally, I can promise you she is going back to Mexico.’

  

According to criticism by the Government Accountability Office report released in January 2009, ICE has not established how participating agencies should use their power and many of the agreements did not mention that an arrest must precede the use of immigration authority. Keeping track of arrest data under 287(g) is not a requirement for police agencies.

  

Art Venegas, former Chief of Police in Sacramento, Calif., said there is lack of oversight. He explained that unless there is a way to track how every officer makes an arrest under the program, it shouldn’t be implemented.

  

“We have rogue officers and sometimes without a doubt they allow their bias and bigotry or misbehavior to come through in their performance,” said Venegas during the teleconference.

  

The rapid expansion of 287(g) agreements within 71 jurisdictions has worried civil rights groups. Most of the agreements were enacted in areas with a large immigrant populations, 87 percent above the national average and in areas with lower crime rates, according to 2008 data cited in the NCLR report.

  

“When you have a huge chunk of your community being afraid, then truly the communities themselves are not safe,” said Venegas.

  

(Raisa Camargo is a reporter with Hispanic Link News Service in Washington, D.C.  Email:ra8isa@knight