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 The argument for getting local law enforcement to enforce federal immigration laws goes pretty much like this - police officers are in the best position to determine if someone is in the country illegally. If a police officer makes a traffic stop and determines that a driver is here illegally, all the department has to do is call the folks at ICE, or Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.
They come over, grab the illegal alien/undocumented worker/ student with an expired visa and ship them back to wherever. But unfortunately, that's just not how it works.
Somehow, in the space of a year or so, we went from telling cops to "pull their weight" on immigration enforcement to asking them to take their foot off the gas. Federal immigration authorities have laid down new guidelines that will reduce the number of suspected illegal immigrants handed over from cities like Irving, Texas for possible deportation.
That's right - ICE wants Irving police to do less in the way of immigration enforcement. ICE officials in Dallas have e-mailed a set of guidelines to the Irving jail asking officials not to refer suspected illegal immigrants to them if they were arrested for a Class C misdemeanor. That change could reduce the number of suspects Irving turns over to ICE by 60 percent, city officials said.
"We are surprised by this action," Irving Mayor Herbert Gears told the Dallas Star Telegram in a recent interview. "In fact, we cannot imagine how the federal government will state that they will not enforce the law." ICE spokesman Carl Rusnok is crying poverty and says that the move was made to use the agency's limited resources more effectively and that the agency will still try to process people arrested for Class C misdemeanors - offenses like an open container of alcohol in a vehicle, failing to appear in court for a traffic citation or writing a bad check - "when it can."
Police spokesman David Tull said police wouldn't change anything until they get something more official from ICE than an e-mail. But he said Irving police will comply with the federal agency's wishes. "We always said ICE will be the one to determine any changes," Tull told the Star-Telegram's Patrick McGee. "Our procedure and guidelines are set, based on what they have. We can't change federal law or federal guidelines." Irving's participation in the Criminal Alien Program has been a huge source of attention for the many deportations it generated.
The referrals Irving made to ICE have resulted in more than 1,700 deportations since the program began in September 2006. The change applies to Oklahoma and the 128 counties in Texas that the Dallas ICE office oversees. Rusnok said the change was made because other cities are starting their own programs, something that probably happened because Irving's many referrals got so much attention. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites        
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