An article from the Houston Chronicle reports that Houston's Mayor White blasted the federal government for not deporting an undocumented immigration who later shot a police officer.
as the Chronicle article states:
Police officials who requested anonymity told the Chronicle that an immigrant with a criminal history similar to the Salvadoran man who shot Officer Richard Salter might today be able to slip through the cracks if he was picked up by HPD on a minor offense. That’s because HPD uses a database to screen suspects with fewer immigration records than that available in other jurisdictions, such as Harris County.
To plug any potential remaining gaps, White this week said he plans to ask Hurtt to consider participating in the federal government's controversial 287(g). link
The problem with 287g is that it is a deeply flawed program. The notorious Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Arizona has used this program to implement his draconian and de-humanizing anti-immigration program. The U.S. Government Accounting Office released a report in January deeply criticizing 287g.
dreamacttexas agrees that the death of the officer, or anyone for that matter is a terrible thing, especially for the family of that person. Yet, as has been reported continuously, immigrant crime is miniscule compared to that of U.S. citizens and residents. The Chronicle's article says that many more immigrants are detained through the Harris County Sheriff's Dept. It is important to note that the Harris County suburbs are much more conservative than the city of Houston itself. Suburban citizenry would pressure the county to be more stringent regarding immigration rules.
Maybe the Chronicle is pressing for tougher enforcement, but many other papers are not. Perhaps the Houston paper is concerned about staying alive. There is much fear these days in the newspaper business. Maybe the Chronicle thinks that by writing articles that are attractive to right wing conservatives, they may survive the current demise of the American newspaper.
here is a link to a NY Times editorial on immigration policy: "Who is running Immigration?" New York Times, March 3, 2009
There are two comprehensive reports on immigrants crime by the Immigrant Policy Center - (IPC is not a right wing organization) for report #1, for report #2
Here is an excerpt of the GAO report:
United States Government Accountability Office
Report to Congressional Requesters
IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT
Better Controls Needed over Program Authorizing State and Local Enforcement of Federal Immigration Laws
link to entire report
January 2009
[First]…while ICE officials have stated that the main objective of the 287(g) program is to enhance the safety and security of communities by addressing serious criminal activity committed by removable aliens, they have not documented this objective in program-related materials consistent with internal control standards. As a result, some participating agencies are using their 287(g) authority to process for removal aliens who have committed minor crimes, such as carrying an open container of alcohol.
While participating agencies are not prohibited from seeking the assistance of ICE for aliens arrested for minor offenses, if all the participating agencies sought assistance to remove aliens for such minor offenses, ICE would not have detention space to detain all of the aliens referred to them. ICE’s Office of Detention and Removal strategic plan calls for using the limited detention bed space
available for those aliens who pose the greatest threat to the public, until more alternative detention methods are available.
Second, ICE has not consistently articulated in program-related documents how participating agencies are to use their 287(g) authority. For instance, although the processing of individuals for possible removal is to be conducted in connection with a conviction of a state or federal felony offense, this issue is not mentioned in 7 of the 29 MOAs we reviewed. Internal control standards state that government programs should ensure that significant events are authorized and executed only by persons acting within the scope of their authority. Defining and consistently communicating how this authority is to be used would help ICE ensure that immigration activities undertaken by participating agencies are in accordance with ICE policies and program objectives.
Third, ICE has not described the nature and extent of the agency’s supervision over participating agencies’ implementation of the program. This has led to wide variation in the perception of the nature and extent of supervisory responsibility among ICE field officials and officials from 23 of the participating agencies that provided information on ICE supervision. Internal control standards require an agency’s organizational structure to define key areas of authority and responsibility. Given the rapid growth of the program, defining the nature and extent of the agency’s supervision over this large and growing program would strengthen ICE’s assurance that manage- ment’s directives are being carried out. Finally, while the MOAs state that participating agencies are responsible for tracking and reporting data to ICE, in 20 of 29 MOAs we reviewed, ICE did not define what data should be tracked or how it should be collected and reported. Internal control standards call for pertinent information to be recorded and communicated to management in a form and within a time frame that enables them to carry out internal control and other responsibilities.
To help ensure that ICE program managers for the 287(g) program achieve the results intended by implementing this program, we are recommending that the Assistant Secretary for ICE
(1) document the objective of the 287(g) program for participants
(2) clarify when the 287(g) authority is authorized for use by state and local law enforcement officers
(3) document in MOAs the nature and extent of supervisory activities ICE officers are expected to carry out as part of their responsibilities in overseeing the implementation of the 287(g) program and communicate that information to both ICE officers and state and local participating agencies
(4) specify the program information or data that each agency is
expected to collect regarding their implementation of the 287(g) program and how this information is to be reported
(5) establish a plan, including a time frame, for the development of performance measures for the 287(g) program. link to entire report
Below is an excerpt from the Chronicle article on 287g:
Few illegal immigrants ID’d
Records show they're missed often at Houston jail
By SUSAN CARROLL and BRADLEY OLSON Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
March 13, 2009, 9:14PM
Standing in front of a bank of TV cameras this week, Houston Mayor Bill White took the federal government to task for not deporting an illegal immigrant with a criminal record before he allegedly shot a Houston police officer during a recent drug raid.
“I vowed after talking to the officer’s wife that I was going to make this a cause,” the mayor said Tuesday, “and I wasn’t going to tolerate some of the excuses that we’ve heard about lack of resources.”
But critics say the mayor has been making plenty of his own excuses when it comes to immigration enforcement and has done little to help the federal government improve screening in Houston’s jails.
Recent documents obtained by the Houston Chronicle through a public records request show that very few illegal immigrants are being identified in the city jail. Last year, HPD jailers detained for immigration officials less than 1 percent of the 58,774 suspects booked only into the city’s jails and not transferred to the Harris County Jail. From October 2006 through January, HPD identified and detained 372 suspected illegal immigrants for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The recently obtained documents include a November e-mail from Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt to White that reported “several thousand” illegal immigrants eligible for deportation had passed through the city’s lockups.
Police officials who requested anonymity told the Chronicle that an immigrant with a criminal history similar to the Salvadoran man who shot Officer Richard Salter might today be able to slip through the cracks if he was picked up by HPD on a minor offense. That’s because HPD uses a database to screen suspects with fewer immigration records than that available in other jurisdictions, such as Harris County.
To plug any potential remaining gaps, White this week said he plans to ask Hurtt to consider participating in the federal government’s controversial 287(g) program, which trains local jailers to assist immigration agents. The move is a departure from the mayor’s past position that local police should have limited involvement in immigration enforcement. The mayor and Hurtt this week also committed to using a Homeland Security database that automatically checks suspects’ immigration history...more
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